The Fiftieth Hunger Games
by 17headlines
Summary: The Fiftieth Hunger Games. The second ever Quarter Quell. The Games of Haymitch Abernathy, Maysilee Donnor, and many others. Twice the tributes. Half the chances. May the odds be in your favor...
1. The Wonderful Beginnings

**Extended Summary: **

**The Fiftieth Quarter Quell. Haymitch's Hunger Games. The true, elaborated account of the second ever Quarter Quell. After all, what's a Quarter Quell without a twist? **

*Hello everyone! I thank you all for clicking this fanfic and giving it a chance.

I will let you all submit characters! Yay! I will except everyone! Woohoo! One of you guy's tributes might even win! Haymitch is not guaranteed!

If you are submitting, please fill out this form in the reviews:

_Name- _Do I really have to explain this one? Gender goes with this too.

_District- _Every district. 12 has Maysilee and Haymitch, remember, so 12 only can have two more tributes. I will not include names in this next chapter, so they're still available. There is also the girl from 2 that made it to the last two, so someone can take her if they want, and elaborate on her story.

_Age- _12-18 as always

_Appearance- _Use imagination!

_Temperament- _Again, imagination? What's an imagination? Oh, never mind.

_Preferred Weapon- _Any weapon that _already exists. _

_Games Strategy- _What will your player's strategy be? Seemingly weak, like Johanna? Ruthless, like Cato? Sexy, like Finnick?

_Backstory- _Anything else you want me to know? Put it here! Are they fighting for a sibling, like Katniss? Do they just hate the world, kinda like Thresh? Fame, like Enobaria? This is the _anything else _spot, right here!

_Your Sponsor Name- _You will be being your player's sponsor. I don't even care if you guys are opposite genders. Every once in a while, tell me if you want your player to be sponsored. I will also include you guys as sponsors at the beginning, before the Games begin. Feel free to describe yourself a bit here, too. If you don't, there's no telling how I'll describe you. Mwahahahaha!

**Again, thanks for reading, and I will start the story for you guys, too! I'll also say when there's no more submitting. **

**Okay? Okay. Let's go!***


	2. 1, Reaping Day

**The Reaping **

Haymitch hated the world.

Who wouldn't hate a world with the Hunger Games in it? And this one was a Quarter Quell, too. Second one in history.

The idiot escort this year, Priscilla Pillowprimper, waddled up the stage. To put it bluntly, Priscilla was fat. Her hair looked like a big green beehive, and the shirt matched, clashing in a hideous orange color. It puffed out around the stomach and _bee_-hind, _not _helping things. A red pencil skirt, three sizes too small, was underneath. Layers and layers of white powder had been applied to Priscilla's face, along with purple lips and high, arching pale tangerine eyebrows. And she wondered why she was assigned District Twelve.

The squat woman cleared her throat. "Is this on?" she asked, tapping the microphone. It fed back, causing everyone to clap their hands over their ears.

"Alrighty then! This year is the Fiftieth Quarter Quell, as you all know." She paused, as if waiting for applause. She didn't get it. After a silence, she continued. "Every twenty-five years, we give the Hunger Games a twist." She pulled a cream envelope from the pocket of her pencil skirt. She had to yank, as it was stuck in fast. When she finally pried it out, she pulled the red seal from the paper. "This Fiftieth Hunger Games, every district will have four tributes instead of two. Two female and two male." She waited, clearly expecting more applause. She still didn't get any.

Haymitch was in shock. _Twice _the amount of tributes? This year would be a bloodbath, for the entire Games, for sure.

"As always, ladies first!"

The crowd waited, dreading her voice. Priscilla dug around in the bowl, pudgy hands grabbing a slip of paper deep in the glass orb.

"Maysilee Donnor!"

The district turned their attention to a sobbing 15-year-old blonde, being pried off a nearly identical girl.

Haymitch tuned out of the next girl. Maysilee was in the year below him, a merchant's daughter. He didn't really like any merchant's children. They were too well-fed. Too snobby, too pompous for him to ever pay any attention to them. Another merchant's girl was chosen, but she went quietly, her small frame bristling with fear.

"Now, the boys!" said Priscilla in her high-pitched voice.

Once again, she dug around her glass ball. The district watched in silence.

"Haymitch Abernathy!"

The crowd pushed him forward. He was too numb to do it himself. All he could think was _no, no, no. _

He saw his mother in the crowd, weeping. She was clutching his little sister, Madeline, who was also crying.

He saw his girlfriend, Mae. She was weeping to, reaching out to him. But the tide was relentless, the tide continued. Their fingers almost touched, but at the last moment he was swept away.

He climbed the steps to the stage. He stood like stone. He wouldn't cry for the Games. The Games did not deserve his tears.

He couldn't hear the next tribute's name over the rushing in his head. _He was a tribute. _He barely managed to notice that the boy was a year younger than him, who lived close by in the Seam.

The the officials took him, Maysilee, and the other two tributes for their good-byes. His mother was the first one in.

"Haymitch," she gasped. She hugged him close. "Oh, my God…"

He let her weep into his shoulder. "It's all right, Mom. I'm gonna win."

She pulled away, examining his face. She smiled at him sadly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear. "Of course you will. I'll miss you. I'll be waiting." They hugged one more time. She kissed him on the cheek, one last time. Then their time was up, and she left, choking on her tears.

Madeline was the next one in. "Haymitch! You have to win!" His little six-year-old sister's eyes were wide with an undeniable innocence and worry.

He smiled. He loved Madeline so much. "Of course I will."

"But there's lots more kids."

"I don't care. I'll kick their sorry asses."

She giggled. Words like those were still funny, at her age. "Haymitch!"

He grinned. "You heard me, Princess. I'll see you soon, okay?"

She nodded, wiping away a stray tear. "Okay." He hugged her, Madeline in return burying her face in his shirt.

"I'll be back soon, Maddie. You'll see."

She hugged him. "I love you, Haymitch."

He hugged her back. "Love ya too, Princess."

The buzzer rang, and Madeline ran out of the tent. Mae walked in.

"Haymitch," she said. She ran at him, and they kissed.

After a while, they broke apart. "Mitch," she said, tears streaming, "I hate them."

"I do too."

"If you die-"

"I won't. I'll come back, I promise."

He felt something, warm with sweat, being pressed into his hand. "Take this."

"What?" He opened his palm. Inside was a coppery disk, ridges carved into the edges. It read, _In God We Trust. _"What's this?"

"You need a token," responded Mae. "It's from before Panem. Keep it. Remember, 'a penny well spent is a penny well earned'. Spend it wisely."

He smiled. "I'll spend it on winning."

She wrapped her arms around Haymitch's neck. "I'm not surprised." They kissed until the buzzer rang, when Mae Jefferson walked out, head held high.

No one else came in. His dad had died in a mine accident long ago. More Peacekeepers walked in, escorting him to the train. Maysilee was the only other person there. Her cheeks were still damp, and her dress was wrinkled. Her hair was a tangled knot. "This sucks, huh?" she asked.

"Yup."

***Kinda short, but the Games are rolling! Woohoo!* **


	3. 2, Train Rides, The Mockingjay Pin

***And I'm back! **

**To milkshakesw: Yeah, thanks for pointing it out! I changed it. **

**To swimpercabethrue: Mae is Haymitch's girlfriend. She was mentioned, not by name, when Haymitch was talking to Katniss and Peeta when they were watching his Games. I believe the younger sibling was a brother, but I loved Madeline too much.**

**Now, let's continue on with the story!* **

**Train Rides- The Mockingjay Pin**

The entire crew for District 12 was seated around a round table. Maysilee supposed they were there to discuss strategy. She examined the faces around the table.

Priscilla Pillowprimper was two seats to her left, looking Capitol-ish as always.

Directly on her left was a boy named Haymitch Abernathy. Maysilee saw him around the town and at school sometimes. Occasionally, he even went in her father's shop. Right now, he was wearing the I-don't-give-a-crap look.

On her direct right was a boy she had never seen before. He had the Seam look, dark, curly hair, olive skin, and the Seam eyes. She could make out a few muscles beneath his collared shirt. He looked to be about her age.

On his right, was a girl she had never seen before. She had light skin and blue eyes, with rich brown hair pulled back in a braid for the Reaping. Wait, Maysilee recognized her. She was the shoemaker's daughter. She was one of the five Roschester children, the second-youngest.

Next to the other girl was an empty seat. And the seat next to that was empty, too. Maysilee wondered who the chairs belonged to.

Priscilla stood up, knocking the chair she was sitting in over. An Avox rushed over to pick it up. She didn't even flinch.

"Welcome, new District 12 Tributes! As you know, I am Priscilla Pillowprimper, your escort this year. Maysilee, Hana, this Avox here will lead you to your rooms. Haymitch, Connor, your rooms will be shown to you by this Avox. Clean up, and be ready for lunch in an hour and a half."

Maysilee followed the Avox, the other girl, Hana, trailing behind her. The Avox showed her a room, and Maysilee walked in.

The room was enormous. She had never seen such a big, comfortable-looking bed in her life. The chairs, nightstand and table were old-fashioned, but remarkably detailed. Each edge of the dark wood used for the furniture was tipped with gold. She saw a door on her right, and walked in, astounded by the size of the private bathroom. The tub sank into the floor, and was deep enough to be a swimming pool. When Maysilee touched them, the towels were made of a soft, fluffy material. The floor, sink and tub were made of marble, reflecting the shiny lights off their smooth surfaces.

Maysilee turned a knob on the bathtub, and a warm water began pouring from its faucet. She pressed some of the buttons labeled _Fragrances, _and a sweet smell filled the room. She sighed with pleasure as she undressed.

She slipped into the silky water, now clouded with chemicals. She soaked, allowing herself to be happy, despite the circumstances.

A half hour later, the bath was cold. Maysilee slipped out, drying herself with one of the fluffy towels. Her Reaping outfit was still on the floor. She folded it neatly and put it in a cabinet, knowing the Avoxes would take it otherwise.

Towel wrapped around her, she walked out of the bathroom. She investigated the dresser. Inside were all colors of all clothes, of course high-fashion. She found a gray shirt and a pair of white pants, cuffed at the bottom. She combed out her wet hair, angling her blonde bangs so they didn't fall in her eyes. She did this all slowly. She was so tired from the events of the day. And it was still, what, noon? She looked over at the clock. By then, an hour had passed since they had first boarded the train. She still had time to kill.

She sat on the cushioned bed, her weight sinking into the mattress. She fell back onto the pillows, hair splayed around her. She fingered a pin, all she had been able to bring on the train with her. She figured it would be her token. It had been her aunt's, and her aunt's aunt's. It had been passed along the family even before that, too, she thought. It had been their Games token too. Every single one had brought it to the arena. They had all died.

She would break the curse of the mockingjay pin. She was determined to. She would give it back to her mother when she returned, the rightful owner. She would rebel against the Hunger Games, and Panem, just like the Mockingjay.

She thought of her sister, how happy she would be when she returned. Her twin, Abree Donnor. She remembered when she had come in.

_Maysilee, this can't be happening. _

_It is, Abree. It is. _

_Maysilee… _

_Yes? _

_Will you win? _

_What? _

_Will you win? _

_Abree, I simply don't know. There'll be Careers, twice as many, and more tributes besides. Who knows what the arena will look like. _

_I don't care, Lee. You gotta win. _

_Then I will. Watch me on the TVs, Abree. _

_Maysilee! _

_Yeah? _

_I love you. _

_I love you too. _

She sighed. Abree was counting on her. She held the mockingjay pin close to her heart. The pin wouldn't be bad luck this year, she knew it.

Fastening it to the inside of her shirt, she wandered out of the room to explore. The car she was in held the girl's rooms. She discovered the next one held the boys, their names too painted on the doors in gold. She went back to the car they had boarded. She sat down in one of the chairs, watching the scenery go by. District Twelve had always been her home, her whole world. She had known of the other districts, and the Capitol, but never really thought of them- they had always felt so far away. She realized now how close they all were, how small Twelve was.

Priscilla Pillowprimper squeezed her pudgy body through the train doors. "Ah, a tribute is already here! I do like punctuality," Priscilla said in her Capitol accent. She plopped down in a chair identical to Maysilee's, the wood groaning in protest.

"You're Miss Donnor, correct? A merchant's daughter?" Maysilee nodded, slightly warily. She kept an eye on the chair, fearing it might shatter under Priscilla's weight. "Ah. What does your father do for a living?" Maysilee swallowed. "He's a baker. I help him sometimes."

"Yes, some arm strength then, eh? Kuh-needing and whatnot?" This woman clearly had no baking expertise.

The other female tribute, Hana Roschester, walked in and saved her from an awkward situation. "Am I too early?" asked Hana. Maysilee gave her a once-over.

Hana appeared to be young, about thirteen. Damp chestnut hair bounced around her shoulders, framing her heart-shaped face. Her slight frame poised like a bird, about to fly away any moment. Her blue eyes danced around the room, sucking in every detail.

Priscilla clapped her hands. "No, just a few minutes. Take a seat." Hana gingerly lowered herself into the chair between Maysilee and the escort. Maysilee smiled as she saw Hana, too, was keeping an eye on the creaking chair.

They were silent. Connor, the other boy, walked in a few minutes after Hana. He sat down next to the girls. Priscilla sighed.

"It seems Mr. Abernathy is late. Avox, could you please fetch him?"

The mute gave a nod and left. A few minutes later, she returned with a sullen Haymitch.

"Brilliant!" Priscilla clapped her hands. "Let us begin!"

"As you know, our last living Victor, Richard Valiquette, died five years ago. Since then, our lovely Capitol has provided us with other, older Victors who have already been replaced within their Districts. Please welcome Vanessa Enriqueson, District Two, and Matthew Umbrie, District Three!"

A man and a woman walked into the car.

The woman was beautiful. She had medium-length curly platinum hair and purple eyes, surgically altered in the Capitol. Her skin was white, and her lips bloodred. Her curvy shape was evident from beneath her clothing. She was very young for a Victor, maybe twenty-five. Of course, she was from District Two.

The man was about the same age, surprising for District Three. Oh, wait- Maysilee remembered a seventeen-year-old from Three winning a few years ago. He had thick, spiked brown hair and a mustache that filtered into a goatee that covered the lower area of his mouth. His eyes were a soft green, and he was well-built. His broad shoulders suggested he was rather strong. As Maysilee watched him, she could make out muscles rippling beneath his blue shirt.

They took the two empty seats. Priscilla clapped her hands excitedly. The other tributes gave a few halfhearted claps.

"Now, let's get started! We need a strategy!"

***So, now we're on the train! Yay! **

**Guys, I really really like it when you submit characters! I really appreciate it! Also, please spread the word to other Fanfictioners if possible. Thanks for that, Pearlness4700. **

**To all people who have submitted, thanks! To make sure you're all still reading, I would like you all to give me your tribute's Interview quote. I'm not interviewing forty-eight tributes, as that would become rather repetitive. For example: **

**Maysilee Donnor: "Abree, I'm coming." **

**Haymitch Abernathy: "I'm gonna kick your sorry asses." **

**Hana Roschester: "I just want to go home." **

**Connor Pikaxe: "Fingers crossed…" **

**And so on. Remember, anything blank is available! Forty-one spots still available! **

**Thanks for everything! See you guys! **


	4. 3, Train Rides, Got A Knife?

***Hello, everyone! Good day, everyone!***

**3, Train Rides, Got A Knife? **

The last few days had been a dream. As long as you could forget you were traveling to your death, it was a dream.

Hana had been gaining weight in preparation. She knew she would quickly lose it in the arena.

Speaking of the arena, she wondered what it would be like. Last year, it had been a mountain. It had looked awfully cold. Hana hoped it wouldn't be like that this year.

She had been studying the other District Twelve tributes intently over the past few days. She might have had to kill them, so she wanted to know them, inside and out. Well, of course it wouldn't. This was the Hunger Games. There were no repeats.

The other girl, Maysilee, could be a formidable opponent. She was of medium build and had some muscle from carrying flour. Her fingers were slim and delicate and slightly charred from oven burns. They danced about the table when she was thinking. Her bangs constantly fell into her eyes, but Hana had a feeling Maysilee could see through them just fine. Otherwise, her soft curves made Hana feel even younger than her thirteen years. Maysilee seemed open to allies. Or, well, they had talked a few times. Unlike her and Haymitch.

Haymitch Abernathy seemed to hate the world. He spoke very little, and when he did, it was gruff and sarcastic. He was rather handsome, Hana had to admit. And he looked awfully strong.

Connor Pikaxe was friendly, too. He looked even stronger than Haymitch. His soft brown eyes seemed full of nervousness inside their long lashes. His tan skin was barely lighter than his brown hair. He had been quiet at first, but now he talked some. His voice was higher than expected, almost comical.

She put on a white ruffled blouse and deep purple skirt before heading out of her room. She made sure her treasured slip of paper was inside the ruffles of the blouse.

Everyone else- Maysilee, Connor, Vanessa, Matthew, and Priscilla- was already present. Except, as usual, for Haymitch.

As always, Priscilla sighed, and as always, she rung up an Avox to fetch him. As always, the Avox returned with a grumpy Haymitch. As always, Priscilla clapped her hands.

"All right, team! As you know, tomorrow is the Tribute Parade, or whatever it's called! Today is the last day on this train, traveling through the Districts. Tomorrow, we arrive at the Capitol.

"Today will be spent with your mentors, working on your angle. Vanessa and Maysilee will work together until until three. Hana and Vanessa will work together from three to five. Matthew and Connor until three, and Haymitch and Matthew until five. After then, if any of you still need help, you can continue working. But now, let us eat!"

Priscilla began gorging herself. Hana could barely touch her food. They were so close to the Capitol? Already? The Hunger Games were so close to starting. How was Hana to win? She was a scrawny District Twelve thirteen-year-old. She calmed herself down. That was what today was for. She began to eat.

Finally, Vanessa, Maysilee, Matthew, and Connor rose and left the dining car. Haymitch, Priscilla and herself were all that were left.

She looked over at Haymitch, whose blonde bangs hung in his eyes as he stared at her. She jerked back in surprise, hitting her head on her chair. "Ow! Uh…"

"So. We got two, three hours, alone this damn room. Might as well talk."

"Um…" said Hana cleverly. "You lived in the Seam, right?"

He narrowed his eyes slightly. "What about it?"

"I've always been interested in the Seam. It seems so lively compared to the shops. And I've heard wonderful things about the Hob. I've always wanted to visit, but Daddy said no."

He sneered at her. "Merchant's daughters. _I've always wanted to visit, but Daddy said no_," he mimicked.

Hana was taken aback. He wasn't even trying to be polite now. He was _mocking _her! How dare he!

She stood up indignantly. "How dare you! I am not _spoiled_, how could you say that? District 12 is hard for everyone! You, sir, have no right, and I will not stand for this!"

He grinned. How _infuriating _this boy was!

"I knew you weren't that weak."

What?

"I was testing you, kid. You seemed to delicate and lovely and sweet to survive the bloodbath, let alone win. Connor had his doubts."

She was steaming. He was _testing _her? She sat back down in her chair with a _huff_ as Haymitch laughed. She had to get him back.

"So, you think I'm lovely, do you?"

He turned beet red. "No- I- ah- um-"

She simpered at him. "So that's a yes?"

"NO. God, are thirteen-year-olds always this annoying? When Maddie gets this age-" He shook his head. He looked crestfallen now, all signs of the teasing boy gone.

She scooted her chair closer. "Who's Maddie?"

He looked up through his bangs at her. "My little sister. She's six."

"Oh." Hana felt bad for asking. "Do you have any other siblings?"

"No. You?"

"Gosh, don't even get me started. I have four. Eduard, who's twenty-one, Cloud, who's eighteen, Tomas, who's seventeen, me, and Benjamin, who's eight. We all torment each other, tease each other so much. They were devastated when I had my name called."

He nodded sympathetically. "Same here, sweetheart. Say, do you have any fighting skills?"

She grinned at him. "Got a knife?"

For the next hour or so, the two practiced with two knives Avoxes gave them. They found it to be great fun, hurling the carving knife into the lavishly decorated Capitol walls. Quite fun indeed.

At last, the four came back out from their sessions. It was Haymitch's turn throwing the knife, and he barely missed Connor's nose as he walked in. "What the-" he squeaked, jerking back, bumping into Maysilee. She, too, shrieked.

Vanessa shook her head at the two tributes. "They're not actually going to _hit _you." she said. "They'll save that for the arena."

She turned to Hana and Haymitch. "What are you two doing, exactly?" she asked. Her face was strategically devoid of any emotion.

Hana gave her a grin. "Practicing." she responded.

She and Haymitch looked on as Matthew, the male mentor, walked over to the walls. He inspected one of the earlier marks in the walls. "Looks like one of you needed it, too." he muttered.

Hana was a bit taken aback. "Well, sorry, merchant's daughters don't train for this their entire lives. At least look at my better throws." She gestured toward another section of wall.

Matthew nodded at her and crossed the room. His face crinkled into a smile. "Maybe you do have some hope," he said. He inspected a mark a few paces over. "Who threw this?" he asked.

"Haymitch," Hana responded.

His fingers ran over the groove in the wood. "This is incredible. Haymitch, how can you throw like this?"

Haymitch smiled. "If only I would tell you that."

Matthew grinned. "Okay. Anyway, it's time for our session, so…"

Haymitch groaned. "Fine. Let's go." The mentor and tribute exited the room.

Connor, still a bit wide-eyed, sat down in the chair Haymitch had been occupying. "You guys were… practicing?"

Hana nodded. "Yeah."

Vanessa beckoned to her. "You're up."

Hana stood up and followed Vanessa out of the room as Maysilee moved to take her seat.

She smiled as she saw Priscilla, who had been present the entire time, finally peek out from between her fat fingers to peer up at them. She gave Priscilla a menacing wink, and she immediately resumed cowering.

A few cars over, Vanessa sat in a large plush chair. "Take a seat."

Hana lowered herself into an identical chair, only to be subjected to Vanessa's calculating stare.

"Uh…" she said as Vanessa continued her relentless gaze. She felt small, smaller than she already was.

"What shall we do with you," murmured Vanessa. But it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"I don't know. Isn't that for you to decide?" Hana retorted.

Vanessa smiled. "You're feistier than I thought. Knife-throwing in the dining car? Unexpected." Vanessa fell silent.

Hana was startled. How many people on this train had been toying with her?

Vanessa spoke up again. "You think you can pull off an Isabelle Montoya?"

"A what?"

"She actually won her Games, too. It was year thirty-four. I wasn't even eligible to volunteer yet. Was I? I don't remember. You probably weren't alive yet. Anyway. She fooled everyone. She was from District Five, so she was expected to get a low score in training, right? She got a two. She convinced everyone she was weak and defenseless. Even Caesar couldn't help her. When she got into the arena, she got supplies and ran. She had no allies. When only the Careers were left, she came out with a spear and killed most of them easy. She killed the last Career, a District Four girl, and she won."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"We could change her strategy a little. But the idea would be the same. You would be a terrible tribute. You would pretend to be weak and defenseless, like Isabelle. But you would kill everyone when it matters."

Hana thought that over. "I'm not very good with spears. Or combat."

Vanessa's eyes shone with excitement. "Those Games were so long ago, everyone probably forgot the strategy. But yes, we could have you going around, slitting throats in the night. Pretending at first to be the little girl you're expected to be, but even worse, even weaker. Yes, yes, that might just get you to be a Victor."

"Slitting throats?"

"You get the idea."

The two were silent. Then, Hana finally spoke.

"How old was she? Isabelle, I mean."

Vanessa smiled again. "Twelve."

"I'm in."

Vanessa's smile grew impossibly wide. "Good."

***Yes! That is my real, actual writing style! This is how I usually write, guys! **

**Okay. I need quotes from: **

**Rush Evans **

**Torak Watevr **

**Bailey Hudak **

**Gage Piller **

**Calliope Gail **

**Chrysanthemum "Chrys" Galloway **

**Ash Taylor **

**Reyna Aclepius **

**and Nova Bandox. Everyone else, I've got them. **

**I would also like to note that my always-fully updated tribute list is on my profile. Anyone wondering the full list, go to my profile, okay? **

**One last thing: Some of these submissions (I won't mention names) are very undescriptive. I essentially am getting a name/age/District from some of you! I know you guys can do better! Most of them were pretty good, actually. But some were just a name and appearance. You know who you are, please elaborate on your character a little. **

**So, get the Quotes in (if you don't I will make one up for them), elaborate (you-know-who), and thanks for reading!***


	5. 4, Tribute Parade, Sparkling Coal Miners

***So, here we go...***

**4, The Tribute Parade, Sparkly Coal Miners**

Connor felt so, so stupid.

His outfit consisted of a big, lumpy coal miner's hat. Except his was neon yellow. And sparkling.

The red undershirt was flannel, the plaid designs outlined in, well, more sparkles.

He was wearing baby blue overalls, gem-encrusted buttons going down his front. The gems? They sparkled.

He was holding a plastic, hollow pickaxe. Which also happened to sparkle.

What was it with his prep team and sparkle?

His makeup was dark, framing his brown eyes maliciously. Faux coal dust had been smudged on his cheeks. His big, brown, sparkly boots were firm on his feet.

He felt ridiculous, yet this was the best District 12 had been dressed in years.

From the television in the room, he could see the District One carriage had already come out to cheering fans.

He sighed and leaned against the wall. Where _was _everyone?

After a few minutes, as the District Three chariot came out, Hana walked into the room. Suddenly, Connor felt better about his outfit.

Hana was dressed in a long silver tube dress that reached from her ankles to her throat. She was struggling to walk in the high gold heels, arms loaded with bangles out to help her balance. Her hair was French braided with little gems, and the makeup was _not _helping.

Overall, the outfit made her look like a little girl, much younger than she actually was.

Connor pitied her. He walked over to the doorway where Hana was stumbling and offered his arm. She muttered, "Thanks," and took it.

As they got her comfortable leaning on the wall, Maysilee walked in.

She was dressed exactly like Hana, except in her it worked. The dress outlined the curves in her shape, making her look almost sexy. The makeup make her look mysterious. The arm bangles gleamed attractively. Maysilee's hair was up in a braided bun, the gems setting off her hair just right. She made Hana look terrible, even worse than she already was.

Maysilee managed to walk over. "We leave in a minute. Where's Haymitch?"

Connor shrugged. But he had a feeling he knew exactly what was going on.

Priscilla's chirpy voice came in over the intercom. "Tributes, please go to the seventh door on the right in the outside hallway, seventh from your door. I'm there to help you, okay? See you soon!"

Connor looked at the girls. "Well, I guess we should go, then."

He offered Hana his arm again, and she gratefully took it. Maysilee walked behind them, ready to steady Hana in case she was to fall.

At long last, they reached the seventh door. Hana had nearly fallen too many times. At least in the chariot, she wouldn't have to move. Just smile and wave, smile and wave.

Priscilla was awaiting them impatiently. "Where have you been? The chariot is going out any second! Hurry, hurry, up you go!" She helped Maysilee into the chariot.

Connor studied the carriage. It was huge, with two platforms instead of one. Maysilee was on the bottom one. Hana took one look at the steps and whimpered, looking down at her heels and dress.

Connor shook his head at Priscilla, just a little. He also cursed the prep team that had been assigned to Hana, along with her stylist. _What on Earth had they been thinking? _

He said, "Take off the pumps, and hold on."

Priscilla helped Hana out of the tortuous shoes, and before she could react, Connor whisked her off her feet and into the carriage. Priscilla slipped the pumps back on. Maysilee steadied Hana as she wobbled in the shoes.

Connor shook his head again and climbed onto the upper level of the chariot. Now, all they were missing was Haymitch.

He smiled as he heard scuffling noises in the hallway. "I will NOT go in there dressed like this! I look ridiculous!"

Vanessa's voice wafted into the chariot area. "You look like a coal miner who just mined a whole lotta gems. GET IN THERE."

"No," came Haymitch's calm, cold voice. Now, everyone in the chamber was listening in.

"No- ah- STOP- I WON'T-" And with that, the door burst open.

Each Vanessa and Matthew had an arm wrapped around Haymitch's, pulling him in. His feet were dragging on the floor, face-up, arms lifted high above, grasped by the mentors. He was groaning in his identical sparkly coal-miner's outfit.

The mentors hoisted him onto the level Connor was standing on, right next to him.

Vanessa flitted about, tweaking their poses. Matthew stood behind her, wiping glitter off his hands.

"Now, heads up, smiles on, and wave!" chirped Priscilla.

Something odd happened. Hana, in her bedazzled state, turned her face upward pitifully, blue eyes wide. She looked like an innocent young deer.

It made Connor wonder. She _had _toned it down after the knife-throwing incident. But he had to work on his strategy, too; a strong, likeable tribute. He began arranging his face, as Matthew had taught him.

As the carriage began moving, Vanessa ran up to it one last time. "Catch her," she whispered in Connor's ear. She ran back into the shadows, blonde hair flying behind her.

What? Catch who? But Connor had no time to process the thought; the carriage was almost in the open.

He braced himself.

A small roar came from the Capitolites. The sparkling costumes blinded Connor for a moment. When he could finally see, he saw all attention was on them. The District Twelve chariot. Loaded with two miners and two diamonds.

Connor had no idea why the Capitolites thought he mined diamonds.

As the chariot began to turn the corner, he saw Hana began to wobble and tip. She was falling out of the chariot.

Ah, this must have been what Vanessa meant. Well, he wouldn't stop them; he would help them.

He waited until Hana was nearly out and gasps were coming from all parts of the audience. Even some other tributes were watching, spellbound; the District Six girl, for instance. Connor thought he recalled her as Kinley. Yes, Kinley Mathers. Gage Piller, one of the District Three boys, was also keeping an eye on the scene. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a District Eight girl (Reyna Asclepius) watching them out of the corner of _her _eye.

As she finally teetered over the edge, Connor faked a sudden save. A sigh came from the audience, a few looks of disappointment from the other tributes, and Hana began to tremble in his arms.

He gently let her go, keeping two hands firmly in her shoulders. For the rest of the ride, she didn't wobble.

{IN THE SEVENTH ROOM}

Vanessa sighed with relief. "Good. He did it. And he played it nicely, too."

Priscilla turned to them in disbelief. "You mean… that was all set up? Fake?"

Matthew nodded. "Every tribute has their strategy," he said.

Vanessa added, "Hana's doing an Isabelle. I'm sure you know her- the District Five Mentor? Maysilee's doing a-"

She was cut off by the end of the parade. Priscilla started clapping, and the mentors did too.

"Ah, well, Haymitch did his thing quite nicely, too." said Matthew.

Vanessa snorted.

"What?" he asked indignantly.

"It would be quite the feat, especially if he had acted any differently than he already does," said Vanessa.

"Hey," responded Matthew defensively, "have you seen the cameras from yesterday?"

"What about them?" asked Vanessa, now picking at her fingernails.

"The footage from when they were knife throwing. Haymitch was _helping _her."

Priscilla spoke up. "Yes, he did. I didn't watch, of course. Knives scare me So does Haymitch."

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "He's not going to hurt you, Priscilla, you're his _escort, _for goodness sake. Matthew, are you serious?"

He nodded. "Yes. He was moving her position, her fighting stance, so she could throw better. And it worked."

Vanessa frowned. "Where is Haymitch from? Hana's from the shopkeeper's area, obviously, and Maysilee told me she is, too. Connor's from the Seam- he's got the look. But Haymitch looks merchant and acts Seam."

Matthew shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe Hana would know- those two are close."

Vanessa crossed her arms. "I'll ask her."

The District Twelve support group fell into silence right then. They had been together so long, trying to get the District a Victor. Over seven years. They always tried so hard.

But who knew if this year would be any different?

***OKAY GUYS! LISTEN UP! **

**WITH MY FREE TIME, I HAVE BEEN MAKING THIS FANFIC A WEBSITE. **

**I AM ALMOST DONE. I HAVE RECENTLY BEEN FINDING THE TRIBUTE'S PICTURES. **

**IF YOU HAVE ANY CELEBRITY LOOKALIKE YOU WANT TO BE THEIR PICTURE, FEEL FREE TO TELL ME! NO CARTOONS/ANIME. **

**I HAVE ALREADY FOUND PICTURES FOR EVERYONE, SO THIS IS NOT A REQUIREMENT. THE PEOPLE WHO MAY WANT DIFFERENT PICTURES ARE THE CREATORS OF: **

**Bailey Hudak **

**Corax Den **

**Chrysanthemum "Chrys" Galloway **

**Denatharf Likonln (it would be great if you could find one with a teapot on his head :), but otherwise he looks great ) **

**Ash Taylor **

**Gareth Hunsaven **

**Huan Jang **

**Zaylie Wells**

**But seriously, you guys all look great (Perth is Tom Cruise) but these eight I had some issues finding pictures for, so they may not be the best. But anyone can give me a heads-up. **

**Thanks, everyone, and let me know if you have any preferences! (I also have many bloodbath tribute spots… and am missing three Careers, hint, hint.) **

**~17headlines **


	6. 5, Training Center Days, It Buzzes!

**LATE MERRY CHRISTMAS! **

**I am pleased to announce that we are now moving around POVs! So, you'll occasionally see your character narrating! Yay! **

**{I cried while writing this flashback, guys. Just saying.} **

**5- Training Center Days, It Buzzes**

**{THOMAS YONDER, DISTRICT NINE} **

_In death, Blossom had lost all the warmth and laughter Thomas was so accustomed to. _

_In death, Blossom was stiff and hard and cold and serious. _

_Thomas felt a tear make its way down his cheek. It splashed onto her corpse below. _

_Blossom had always had pale skin, being albino and all. But now it was paler than ever. Thomas stared at her skin, wet with his tear, and began to shake. He began to sob as he saw the promise ring on her pale pinky finger. He would never get to fulfill his promise now. Not now, not ever. _

_He choked back the sobs. He fingered her white hair, choppy from her time in the arena. He dropped it, and there it lay, dead against the casket pillow. _

_He leaned over her and kissed her one last time, pouring his heart and soul into her. When he lifted back up again, after several minutes, she was still dead. Of course, what had he been expecting? More tears came, faster and hotter and thicker than ever. But as always, Thomas brushed them aside. _

_He lifted her stiff hand and removed the broken promise ring. He kissed her hand once more before gently laying it back into the wooden casket for the last time. _

_He backed away, nearly tripping over his own feet, tears coming down again. But this time, he didn't brush them away. This time, he let his emotion flow. He slipped the broken promise ring onto his finger, his pinky, the only one it would fit on. _

_If only he had had the opportunity to slip a ring on her hand. If only he could have heard her say "yes" from his one knee and felt the giddiness of love as he slid the ring onto her ring finger. _

_If only he could have fulfilled his last promise to her. _

**THOMAS **squeezed his eyes shut at the memory. Why, oh why, did he have to cry now? Right before he entered the Training Center for the first time, right before he made his first impression on possible allies?

He pushed the sadness away, leaving only nervousness in its wake. He twisted the broken promise ring around his finger, around and around and around. A habit of his.

The dreaded _shishhh _of the elevator doors opening rang in his ears. He stepped off the platform, studying his surroundings.

Groups of four were huddled around the space. Thomas guessed there were maybe seven, eight of them. The huddles were made up of children- some older, some younger. Some had fairer skin, some darker. But he couldn't help but notice the children in each group all looked very similar.

One huddle all had the same light brown, wavy hair. Another mostly had darker skin. Yet another mostly had the same olive skin tone. ?

Oh. They were the Districts. Each group of four was a group of tributes, all from a different District. He recognized some now, from both the parade and watching the Reapings. A girl with darker brown hair from Four. An oddly blue-eyed girl from One. A soft-spoken boy from Twelve.

He glanced around at his traveling group, all taking in the sight at different rates. They all finally stopped gaping and shrugged at each other, shuffling forward together.

They stood around awkwardly, making futile attempts at conversation. Lizzie seemed to feel as awkward as he did, and was at least responding to his questions. Zaylie was ignoring them altogether, instead scanning the crowd of competitors. And Kevin, who never spoke anyway, was bobbing his head to a song inside his head, a song no one else could hear.

Finally, a man stood on a table Thomas hadn't noticed. "ALL RIGHT, EVERYONE! I AM BOB," he boomed.

Snickers came from all parts of the room. Who would name the big, muscled man before them Bob?

"QUIET!" he roared. The laughter fell silent.

"IF ANY OF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MY NAME, SPEAK UP NOW!"

A boy stepped forward. His black hair hung in his eyes. "Who named you Bob? I think it's a stupid name." Eyes widening, his companions leapt back.

Bob's face turned red. "ARE YOU CALLING MY POOR OLD MOMMA STUPID?"

"No-" shrieked the boy, shrinking back, realizing his mistake.

"WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"

"H-Haru," the boy stammered. "Haru Prescott, District Six."

"WELL, HARU!"

"Y-Yes s-sir?"

"SHUT UP!"

More snickers came from the groups of tributes.

"ALL OF YOU!" Once again, the laughter died.

"NOW," Bob shouted, "BEHIND ME YOU SEE OUR TRAINING STATIONS. AS OF NOW, WE HAVE SWORD-FIGHTING, KNIFE-THROWING, SPEAR-THROWING, MACE-USING, TRIDENT-THROWING, BOW/ARROW SHOOTING, ROPES COURSE, EDIBLE PLANTS, SNARES, FIRE-STARTING, WEIGHT-LIFTING, OBSTACLE COURSE, AND STUFF LIKE THAT! BUT BEFORE YOU DASH OFF TO LEARN TO SWING SWORDS, I MUST WARN YOU.

"MORE TRIBUTES DIE FROM HUNGER AND DEHYDRATION THAN ANY OTHER CAUSE IN THE GAMES. HEED MY WORDS, AND YOU MAY SURVIVE. UNTIL LUNCH, GO! TRAIN! GOODBYE!" And with that, Bob disappeared.

**{CALLIOPE GAIL, DISTRICT FOUR} **

**CALLIOPE **watched as Bob jumped off his table and walked off into the array of stations.

She glanced around as the tributes dispersed, all headed to different stations. She noticed there were three of each, likely because of the tripled amount of tributes.

She wandered off to the fire-starting station, mostly because no one was there. Living so close to water, even having worked at the docks, Calliope had never the need for fire-starting. She figured now was a good time to learn.

As the instructor started talking to her about kinds of wood and flint, a girl walked up to her. She had long, dark brown hair and pale skin, matched with a hesitant smile. She sat down next to Calliope, cross-legged, and held out a hand.

"Clio Toffey. District Ten," she introduced.

"Calliope Gail. District Four," responded Calliope, shaking her hand. Clio's pretty blush quickly deepened in color.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! You probably already have an alliance with the rest of the Careers," she mumbled. So, she had come here to sway her into an alliance?

Calliope shook her head slowly. "I don't. They don't want a scrawny thirteen-year-old girl in their way." Anak had made it clear on the train. She turned back to her cold fire.

"Great! I mean, I'm sorry about that," said Clio. Her dull green eyes became bright with excitement. "Say, you're doing that wrong."

"What?"

"Your log."

The instructor there gave Clio an approving look. "You're right, miss!" Clio adjusted Calliope's hands.

Calliope shrugged and gave it a try. To her surprise, a spark snapped into the air.

She looked up to see Clio watching her. "Allies?" the girl offered.

Calliope gave her a once-over. "We'll see," she said.

Clio grinned. Together, the girls went back to learning how to start fires.

**{NOVA BANDOX, DISTRICT ELEVEN} **

**NOVA **and Penelope, her District partner, had known they were going to be allies since the train ride. The girls had found they had much in common, and bonded on the ride to the Capitol. They were already the best of friends.

Nova didn't know about Penelope, but Nova had no intentions of ever betraying their alliance. Ever. She felt like Penelope was her sister.

She hoped, for as long as possible, it would stay that way.

**{KINLEY MATHERS, DISTRICT SIX} **

**KINLEY **headed over to the knife-throwing station as soon as Bob leapt from the table. She found it to be rather crowded, but the feel of the knives in her hand soothed her. She never missed the target. She smiled as she yanked the knives from the target, twenty paces from her original throwing position. Her dad would have been proud.

Her thoughts immediately drifted to her mom. Dead in the Games at seventeen, pregnant with a child. Her. What kind of person would kill a pregnant girl? The Capitol, that's who. As her anger mounted, she threw the knives harder and harder. Faster and faster. Her fury was unmatched.

Until she ran out of knives. She stalked over to the target once more, yanking the knives from the flat wooden circles. Except one was stuck. She tugged on it. She tugged harder, harder. But it was to no avail; it was lodged in tight. She pulled so hard, her grip slipped and she was thrown backward by the force of her very own arm.

As she cried out, she felt a strong pair of arms catch her. She was hoisted back up by the arms, and she whirled around to see her catcher.

It was a girl. Kinley had to lower her gaze a bit to accommodate for her petite size. Her medium-length brown hair was shimmering in the light. Her tan skin was lightly freckled. Her brown eyes flashed from brown to green and back again.

She thanked the girl. "Thanks. Now, if you excuse me-" she stalked back over to her demolished target.

"Wait!" The petite girl ran after her. "I want to ally with you."

Kinley whirled around again, catching her by surprise. "Whatever for?"

The girl's brown eyes hardened. "There's forty-eight tributes this year. Not having any allies, at least at the beginning, would be a death wish. Beside, I like you. And you're strong. I mean, look at how hard you were flinging those knives!"

Kinley's brain took a minute to process this. "I don't even know who you are."

The eyes flashed. "So I have to prove myself, then?"

"I didn't say-" The girl marched over to Kinley's target and yanked out her lodged knife in one try.

Kinley stared at her, stunned. "Who are you?"

The short girl offered her hand. "Jayde Abbadon, Seven."

"Kinley Mathers, Six."

{later}

As the two girls received their lunches together, Kinley noticed a grouping of tributes at tables. She saw what she assumed to be the Career pack at one table, glowering at a pair across the room. A blonde and a brown-haired boy. Likely, they had split from the alliance.

Other miscellaneous collections of children were littered across the room. Jayde pointed out a couple of girls at a table across the room, and Kinley nodded. They headed over to them together.

As they arrived, two of the girls looked up. "Can we sit here?" asked Jayde shyly. How different this girl was from the girl that had caught her earlier.

"Sure," said one of them. The other just stared into her food, chewing.

"I'm Lizzie, District Nine," offered one girl. Her curly reddish locks framed her sweet face.

"Rose Granger, Ten," said the second. Her light brown curls were tighter than the first's, and her pale skin was flawless. Her dark, brown eyes studied them intensly.

The other girl mumbled something unintelligible.

"And that's Lin," said Lizzie, the redhead. She seemed younger than her companions.

Lin swallowed her food. "Sorry. Yeah, I'm Lin, District Eight." Lin had straight, darkish brown hair and slightly slanted eyes. Her pale skin seemed to be almost too pale. And it was stretched rather tight across her bones.

Lin caught Kinley staring. 'What? Eight's been hit by plague lately, haven't you heard?"

"Sorry," muttered Kinley, glancing away from the painfully thin girl.

Lin sighed. "Sorry. I'm just worried."

"About what?" she asked.

Lin was silent for a moment, face contorted with emotion. It almost seemed like she would cry for a moment, until she spoke again. "Chu."

"Oh." She didn't question further; the topic was obviously painful. Lin had mentioned the Eight plague; maybe this Chu had contracted it?

Lizzie spoke up again. "Isn't it weird? We're all from different Districts! Tell me, what's Six like?"

"What?"

"Six? What's it like?" She swiveled to Jayde. "What's Seven like?"

Jayde blanched. "I never told you I was from Seven."

"You just seem Seven." Maybe this girl had more to her than she seemed…

"How old are you, Lizzie?" asked Kinley.

"Fifteen," Lizzie chirped.

"You seem awfully observant for a fifteen-year-old, Lizzie."

Lizzie's smile faded. "I suppose so." Her face darkened, thinking about who-knows-what.

The table was silent until the second girl, Rose, cleared her throat. "So. You like to throw knives?" she asked Kinley.

Kinley nodded. "My only weapon."

Rose shook her head. "I'm rubbish with knives. I prefer swords."

Jayde looked startled. "Swords? Were you trained?"

Rose shook her head once more. "Just today. The instructor says I'm a natural, though."

Jayde nodded slowly. "I see."

Lin re-entered the conversation. "I'm terrible with most weapons. Knives, well, I'm decent. I prefer plants. Plants, you just have to look beneath the layers to see if they're poisonous. I can tell from smell, too."

Lizzie nodded across from Kinley.

Kinley found herself shaking her head. "I'd probably poison myself on the first day." She grinned ruefully.

The other girls laughed. And, to her surprise, Kinley found herself laughing with them.

**{PERTHEUS "PERTH" CRESTER, DISTRICT FIVE} **

A boy ambled his way over to **PERTH**. He sat down next to him, between him and Lenz. He gave Perth a nice smile.

"District One," he introduced himself. Perth didn't quite catch the name. But Perth's suspicion mounted even higher.

"Perth Crester. From Five." responded Perth formally. He was getting annoyed with this One character real fast.

"So, Perth," said the One boy, "I'm a Career, as you've probably already deduced." He kept that stupid smile on his face. God, why wouldn't he just go away?

"And I wanted to know if you wanted to be one to."

Perth's head snapped up. What?

"Why?" he asked.

One scowled. "Five already deserted from the group. We need people to fill in that space. Let's face it, Perth, most of these tributes-" he gestured 'round the room "- are going to die in the bloodbath. We can guarantee that won't happen."

Perth scowled this time. "No."

One looked baffled. "Why not?"

"I have Lenz as an ally. And she's all I'll ever need," he responded curtly.

The boy glared at him. "Fine. But you watch out for us. You two have made enemies today," he spat, and walked off.

Lenz rounded on him as soon as One took off. "Perth. We _need_ allies," she almost yelled.

He ignored her, too busy glaring after One as he stormed off. "Perth! Are you even listening to me?!"

He finally looked up at his younger sister. "Always, Lenzie dearest."

**{MAYSILEE DONNOR, DISTRICT TWELVE} **

**MAYSILEE **chatted with Connor, trying to distract herself from the girl obviously staring at them from across the room.

Finally, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the girl stand up. And start to walk. Maysilee breathed a sigh of relief, but it quickly halted mid-breath when she saw where the older girl was headed.

_Over to them. _

The girl stood in front of them hesitantly. "May I sit here?"

Hana, sitting next to Maysilee, smiled. "Okay."

The girl nodded to Hana politely as she lowered herself into her chair. Maysilee watched her pick at her food. She noticed the older girl was almost painfully thin. She couldn't look away.

The stranger caught Maysilee staring, and Maysilee felt her cheeks burn as she lowered her head shamefully.

She nodded at Maysilee. "Don't feel bad. It's not your fault Eight had the plague."

Maysilee slowly raised her head. "Oh. Yeah. The plague. Have you not been eating?"

The girl shook her head. "Not much."

Hana gestured towards Maysilee. "She's a baker's daughter."

The girl studied her. "Oh. Have you always had enough to eat, then?"

To Hana, the girl, and Connor's surprise, she shook her head. "Not really. We always get the food the customers don't want. The burned bread, the stale cakes."

The girl nodded in sympathy.

"So," interrupted Connor, "what your name?" he asked the girl.

"Reyna," she said.

Hana squinted at her. "Didn't you volunteer?"

Maysilee nodded; she _had _seemed a little bit familiar.

Reyna nodded. "Yes. For a twelve-year-old girl. I felt sorry for her. And I wanted to see Viola again." The girl's eyes misted over, and Maysilee had a feeling Reyna's attention wasn't with the three District Twelve tributes anymore.

"Who's Daisy?" prodded Maysilee gently.

Reyna's gaze was still far away. "My little sister," she murmured.

Maysilee's eyes went wide with understanding. "The plague."

Reyna nodded. "Yes. A few weeks ago. I figure if I win, I win. If I lose, I see her again."

Maysilee wanted to cry. If Abree had died of plague, she was sure she would feel the same way. Overcome with emotion, she told Reyna this.

"It's hard. Sometimes, I want to throw myself off the roof to see her again. But I don't."

Connor spoke again. "That's impossible."

"What?" asked Hana, the only one with the ability to speak.

"There's a force field around it."

"And how would you know that?" asked Hana.

"It buzzes." Connor responded simply.

Maysilee started grinning. "It… buzzes."

Hana smiled too. "It buzzes."

Maysilee started to laugh. Hana joined her. Connor's hearty chuckles soon joined them.

Reyna started to smile, and eventually laugh with them. Soon, they were wiping tears of laughter from their eyes. Hana was on the floor, rolling around in laughter.

When Maysilee looked up again, she saw the entire room staring at them. The others looked confused as they sat there silently, watching their fit.

The others sat up too. Reyna was the last to sit up and see the sight before them. She spoke.

"Sorry, guys. But, well, it _buzzes_!"

That set them off again. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Haymitch shaking his head at her, which only made her laugh harder.

They continued on like that until the end of lunch.

***So guys, how was it? Creators, do you like your tribute's allies? **

**I am announcing the competition for the Sponsor/Creator Games! Creators, this is how you play! **

**1: At the end of chapters, I will ask questions. It will range from one- five. So some days, there will be five questions. Other days, there will be one. **

**2: You send me the answer (without cheating!) through review or PM. **

**3: If you are right, you get the labeled amount of points. If not, you don't. **

**4: At the end of the story, I tally up the points. Player with the most points wins! **

**An answer can only be submitted ONE TIME. NO CHEATING. **

**Today's Games question(s): **

**What was Thomas's promise to Blossom? (there was a specific one, and there ARE clues) [FORTY POINTS] **

**Which District was hit by a plague? [TEN POINTS] **

**Which two tributes are siblings? [TWENTY POINTS] (MsAir, you kinda have to get this one :D) **

**Good luck, everyone, and may the odds be EVER in your favor! Answers will be at the end of the next chapter. **

**One last thing: THE WEBSITE IS UP! {LINK ON MY PROFILE} **

**(address: type in with no spaces) **

** the fiftieth hg . we eb ly . c o m **


	7. 6, Training Center Days, Nova's Nose

**6, Training Center Days, Nova's Nose**

**And so, by request, we begin with... **

**{GARETH HUNSAVEN, DISTRICT ELEVEN} **

**GARETH **and Haymitch sat at their table, watching the rest of Haymitch's hometown friends, if you could call them that, howling on the floor.

Gareth stared at their red cheeks and wide smiles. They were showing weakness. Not a good idea here.

He could tell Haymitch felt more or less the same. He saw the younger boy shaking his head at his friends.

Gareth felt comfortable with Haymitch. With Haymitch, there was no need for words. With Haymitch, you could chuck axes in peace.

A bell rang, and the tributes left their tables. With a simple nod from Haymitch and a shrug from himself, they proceeded to the snare-making station. Who knew, it could come in handy.

As always, without words, Gareth could sense they were near becoming allies.

**{LIN YING, DISTRICT EIGHT} **

It had been a little hard for **LIN **to laugh with the other girls at first. But she found her laugh to be genuine after a moment. Not that she was staying with these girls, but still, it felt good to laugh.

And later, she saw Reyna in fits. The plague had taken a far greater toll on Reyna's family than her own- why, at least Lin had Chu. Reyna was alone. Maybe she would bond with those kind District Twelve tributes before she died.

Oh, yes, Reyna was going to die. She had to. After all, if Lin was to be Victor, Reyna wouldn't be able to be Victor too. There could only be one. And Lin intended to be that Victor. Otherwise, Chu would die. And that wasn't an option.

**{GAGE PILLER, DISTRICT THREE} **

As he studied Bailey, **GAGE **saw that her gaze was far, far away. He snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Bailey, Bailey, Earth to Bailey," he said.

She focused on him. "Mmm-hmm?"

"What's with all the spacing out?" he asked her. It wasn't like Bailey to be off with her head in the clouds.

"Just… thinking," she responded.

"Okay. Say, after lunch, do you want to go to Edible Plants or-"

"We need an ally," she interrupted, fully back with her feet on the floor again.

"What?"

"We need an ally, Gage."

"I don't think so. I've got you, you've got me, we'll be fine-"

"No, we won't, Gage. We need someone else helping us. What if one of us dies, and the other is left alone with nothing? Face it. We need more than just us."

Gage sighed. "Fine," he said. "Who do you want?"

Bailey's eyes scanned the stations. "I think I know just the person…"

**{ASH TAYLOR, DISTRICT SEVEN} **

**ASH **was confused as to why the twelve-year-old beside him was beside him. He was confused as to why it was necessary for him to hum. And he was confused as to why the kid had a teapot on his head.

The kid had followed him around all day. And because Ash couldn't find a reason to chase him off, he had stayed. Finally, Ash turned to him, sighing.

"Do you want to be allies?" he asked, kicking himself inside for doing this.

The kid turned up toward him from his position on the floor. "Really?" he asked excitedly.

"Well, you've been following me around all day. I figured that's what you wanted."

The kid looked confused. "I have?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Oops. Well, is that ally offer still on the table?"

Ash thought about it. "Sure."

The kid nodded. "Yay! I'm Denatharf, by the way. I'm a Three-er."

Ash nodded tentatively and took Denatharf's outstretched hand. "Ash Taylor, a Seven-er."

The kid stood up. "So, where do you wanna go next?"

Ash scanned his surroundings. "Edible Plants sound okay?"

Denatharf nodded. "Okay!" The kid led the way. Ash thought he heard something about "always needing a camping buddy" spoken under Denatharf's breath.

**{JESSAMINE REISS, DISTRICT ONE} **

Avoiding the hateful stares of the Careers, **JESSAMINE **and her new ally Torak practiced making snares. But Jessamine's trap looked like a pile of rubbish.

She threw her hands up in frustration. "I'm terrible at this!" she yelled.

Torak put a hand on her shoulder. "Relax. Maybe we should try a different station?"

Jessamine nodded. The two stood and wandered across the Training Center floor, making their way over to the ropes course.

Jessamine felt much more at home.

**{RUSH EVANS, DISTRICT TWO} **

_Traitors. _**RUSH **thought. She sent yet another glare over in Jessamine and Torak's direction.

They could've been good allies. Not like either of those Four girls. They were young and weak.

She chucked her spear at the target.

"Not bad," said a voice behind her.

She whirled around in surprise. It was Anak, one of the guys from Four.

He kept his eyes on her spear, embedded in the target. "Your trajectory was a little off, but otherwise a good throw," he continued.

Rush felt her cheeks redden. "Oh. Thanks," she responded.

She picked up another spear, and Anak came closer. "You see," he said, hands on hers, "tilt your arm this way- no, the other way- now try that." His warm, calloused hands released themselves from her arms.

Rush threw the spear Anak's way, and it sliced down the shaft of the first spear. Anak's eyes went wide. "You're a strong girl," he said.

Rush stared into his deep, murky green eyes. "You're a smart boy," she said.

She caught Dru rolling her eyes at them and ignored her.

Anak drew her closer. She gave an airy giggle.

Dru stepped up to Anak. "Could you tell _me_ how to throw a spear?" she asked, batting her eyes. "Oh, wait, I already know _how_." She rolled her eyes. "Rush, you idiot, he's playing you like a deck of cards."

Rush glared at Dru. "I'm not an idiot."

"Don't call Rush an idiot," said Anak. Rush felt a blossoming of appreciation for him- and maybe even a bit of… love?

Dru gave a _humph _and stormed off. Rush forgot all about her warning as Anak showed her how to throw another spear.

**{ELIZABETH "LIZZIE" GROWERS, DISTRICT NINE} **

**LIZZIE **knew the girls at lunch were her competitors. But she couldn't help but think that maybe they were her friends, too.

_No, Lizzie. _She had specifically been warned against this. Making friends that would kill her. Literally.

But they all seemed so _nice… _

_Stop it_, she chided herself.

She walked over to Kinley and Jayde. They turned to her expectantly.

"I… ah… wanted to know…" she stammered. _Gosh, Lizzie, you've never had a problem _talking!

"Ifwecouldbeinanalliance," she rushed.

Kinley looked confused until Jayde audibly whispered in her ear, _alliance. _They continued speaking quietly until they looked up at her again.

"Sure," said Jayde. Kinley frowned.

Lizzie squealed, "Thank you thank you thank you!" and hugged them both. They awkwardly hugged her back.

She heard footsteps behind her. She released Kinley and Jayde, turning around to see who it was.

It was Rose Granger from Ten. Much less stuttered than Lizzie, she asked, "Could I join too?"

"Of course," responded Jayde immediately. Kinley shot Jayde a look, and Jayde shot one right back.

Lizzie squealed again and hugged all three.

The new alliance headed over to the ropes course.

**{CHRYSANTHEMUM "CHRYS" GALLOWAY, DISTRICT FOUR} **

**CHRYS **watched dejectedly as the four-girl alliance hugged. She had wanted the short brunette, but she had already been snapped up.

People were getting in alliances fast this year. Rushed alliances were no good. That was obvious, from years of watching the Games. Studying them, just in case she was in them some day. She had been studying the others, top, and now she knew who she wanted.

She walked up to the girl. "Hi, I'm Chrys," she said, offering her hand.

The girl took it warily. "Lenz."

"So, I was interested-"

A boy came barreling up to her. "She's taken," he barked. Chrys shrank away, alarmed.

Lenz slapped his wrist. "Shut up, Perth. She's only introducing herself."

The boy, Perth, drew back. "Fine. I'll hear you out. But-"

"_We'll _hear you out," Lenz cut in. "I'm a part of this alliance too, Perth!"

"Fine," Perth growled. "_We'll _hear you out. You've got thirty seconds."

Lenz shook her head. "Don't listen to him. Take your time."

"Twenty now," said Perth, tapping the wrist Lenz had slapped.

These two were so bewildering. They were almost like-

A smile crept upon her face. "You guys are the sibling pair, aren't you?"

"Yes," they responded in unison.

"And you guys can't just wander around alone."

"Of course we can," said Perth, at the same time Lenz said, "No, we really can't." They glared at each other.

"Would you consider an alliance?"

"Done."

"No."

The siblings got in each other's faces now. "We need someone!" whispered Lenz furiously.

"Not that little one, at least!" Perth shot back.

Chrys split them apart. "Listen, just know the offer's on the table. Consider it? Don't worry, you're the only ones I've asked. Take your time responding. Heck, I'll even give you until tomorrow if you need it." She gave them a little wave. "See you later. I'm off to Spear Throwing if you need me." Chrys turned her back to them, walking away.

Even from several paces away, Chrys could hear them arguing.

It reminded her of home.

**{HANA ROSCHESTER, DISTRICT TWELVE} **

**HANA **was convinced most of the other tributes thought she would die in the bloodbath. Even Maysilee, Connor, and Reyna, her allies. Well, Connor still seemed a little suspicious. She _had _nearly hit him with a knife in the dining car, though…

But this boy here was really getting into his strategy. Well, if it was a strategy. Hana wasn't so sure anymore.

"I AM SOUP!" he was bellowing. "SSSSOOOOOUUUUPPPP!"

He was scaring her a little.

"I WILL FLING HOT SOUP INTO YOUR FACES!"

Maybe more than a little…

**{HUAN JANG, DISTRICT FIVE} **

**HUAN **was rethinking his choice in an ally right about then. Haru just wouldn't stop _insulting people… _

"That girl has a long nose," Haru was commenting. "Like, a _reallllly _long nose." He stretched out his arms for effect.

Huan pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed as the girl in question (Nova Bandox) glared at his partner. This guy was going to get them killed!

"Listen, her nose looks normal to me." (Which it in fact was…)

Haru scoffed. "No, seriously, man, she looks normal to me," interjected Huan.

He was starting to hope Haru would die in the bloodbath…

**{JAYDANIA "JAYDE" MAREE ABBADON, DISTRICT SEVEN} **

Kinley rounded on **JAYDE **as Rose and Lizzie walked on ahead. "Why did you let them in?" she hissed. "We were _fine_!"

Jayde tried to look innocent. "Why, do you have a problem with them?"

Kinley blanched a little. "Not them, the idea of them. I really work better alone. More people is more effort. More people is more heartbreak."

"Well," said Jayde, "it's either you work with all of us, or none of us." She crossed her arms.

Kinley huffed. "Fine." She ran to catch up with Rose and Lizzie.

Jayde smiled as she ran. Because she knew; Kinley needed her. She needed all of them; Kinley was just too stubborn to admit it.

_Going into that arena alone,_ Jayde decided, _would be a death wish. _Jayde shuddered. She hated being alone.

Jayde liked Kinley. A lot. She felt like if Kinley were to visit Seven, she would be a hit with Gemma and Adora, her big sisters. And Kinley knew a lot of her pain. Why, Kinley had never really known her mother, either… she wondered how Mrs. Mathers had died. Peacekeepers, like her mom? Or something else?

_But whatever happens, _Jayde knew, _I'm not going to be the one to kill her. _

**{PENELOPE BALTIMO, DISTRICT ELEVEN} **

**PENELOPE **and Nova had been in the Camouflage station a few minutes ago. Now, they were in Edible Plants- disguised, of course.

Penelope was busy trying to figure out the guy screaming about soup. But he wasn't really offering up information- so she moved on to the girl sitting directly in front of her.

She appeared to be named Zaylie Wells. She was from District Nine. She had volunteered. She was sixteen. She was right-handed. She had five brothers. Her parents didn't love each other any more.

All this Penelope had discovered in the past ten minutes, simply by watching her and hearing the very few things she muttered under her breath- sayings like "(insert swearword here)" and other wonderful things like that.

Penelope moved on. She spent the rest of the day like that; watching, waiting.

***All right, guys! Answers to the last Games questions: **

**1- Marriage **

**2- Eight**

**3- Perth and Lenz **

**In The Lead: MsAir and firepoisonsteel **

**So that's how it works, guys! Get it now? **

**New questions: **

**1} Who had the very first POV in this ENTIRE story? {30 points}**

**2} How many thirteen-year-olds are in this story as of right now? {40 points}**

**3} Who followed Ash around, resulting in an alliance? {10 points} **

**To MsAir: how was the Lenz-Perth dynamic? Should they take on Chrys? SnowQueen, what about you? **

**To firepoisonsteel and Jay Dawson: What do you two have to say about this unexpected alliance? Did I get their vibes right? **

**To the creators of Sheen, Corax and Zaylie: Thanks for being patient with me! They will all have POVs next chapter, no doubt about it. **

**On that note, I am doing my best to make appearances equal. Feel free to tell me if you feel your tribute is fading from memory a bit. Obviously, they can't all be spotlighted in each chapter, but I will let you guys know that Denatharf, Willow, Sheen, Connor, Lenz, Corax, Lenz again, Bailey, and Anak already have set-in-stone places in the next chapter, because I already wrote it. And others still are mentioned. Again, tell me!**

**Well, that's it for now!* **


	8. 7, Training Center Days, Little Isla

***Hey, everyone!***

**Be prepared for some drama… **

**7, Training Center Days, Little Isla**

**{DENATHARF LIKONLN, DISTRICT THREE} **

**DENATHARF **whistled happily on his trip in the elevator, much to Gage's annoyance.

"Could you please stop?" Gage growled. Clearly, the older boy had woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

One of the girls, Bailey, shrugged. "It's not that bad. Besides, I love that song." She began to sing along.

"_I see the moon and the moon sees me, _

_Peeking behind a bright green tree._

_Are you as good as you can be?-" _

Denatharf clapped. Bailey blushed.

The doors opened, depositing them into the Training Center floor for the second time.

"Finally," muttered Gage, pulling Bailey away. She gave Denatharf one last smile before she disappeared into the crowd.

Denatharf continued the tune, humming this time, as he searched for Ash in the crowd.

Finally, Ash was found, and Denatharf stood proudly beside him. He looked around at the other tributes and their camping groups. Boy, some of them were large! He spotted as many as five in a group.

Bob climbed on the table again, told them all the things he had told them yesterday, and the kids dispersed.

**{SHEEN BEATH, DISTRICT ONE} **

**SHEEN **rolled her eyes at Rush's constant Anak talk. She could see Dru doing the same.

Pity. If they weren't all in an alliance, Sheen would kill the lovebirds immediately. But they were already missing four from the alliance...

She needed to get more in. Eight Careers were not enough. Especially not considering they had started with twelve.

For the millionth time, Sheen scanned her soon-to-be kills. Who to recruit, who to recruit?

The Five boy, Perth, was out, as was his sister. Both the Four girls were too weak. Most everyone else was in an alliance. Except for…

**{WILLOW BARK, DISTRICT SEVEN} **

**WILLOW **was wary as the One girl approached, smile on her face.

She reminded herself to calm down. This was just another role. Just. Another. Role. Breathe.

One held out her hand. "Hello. I'm Sheen. I was wondering if you would consider joining the Careers?"

Willow cocked her head. "Why would you want me?" she asked. She made sure to make her voice high and lilting, making sure she sounded like an airhead.

"We are low on Careers this year. You're not in an alliance, unlike most of the others here. You seem decent with that knife."

Willow put a confused expression on her face. "But I'm not a Career."

Willow could tell Sheen was beginning to regret her offer. "We want to make you one," she said slowly, as if talking to a little kid.

Willow pointed a finger to her chest and asked, "Me?"

Sheen nodded slowly, smile plastered on her face. "You. "

"Okay!" Willow shrieked. Her eyes were wide and innocent. A dumb smile was on her face now, too.

**{CONNOR PIKAXE, DISTRICT TWELVE} **

**CONNOR **found Reyna's eyes to be like a kaleidoscope. It seemed like her irises were fractured, like something inside her was broken. They all avoided talking about their personal lives, especially because all of the allies had sisters, to make sure Reyna didn't have a breakdown or something.

Then there was Hana. She was like Haru or Huan, seemingly destined to be a bloodbath death. But he was convinced there was something more. He couldn't forget the blade singing as it whistled past his ear in the dining car.

And Maysilee. She seemed genuine. Connor remembered walking past the bakery and seeing her in it, occasionally. And around school here and there, since they were in the same grade. Maysilee was the same as she had always been, and that relieved him.

Himself. Connor. What had happened to him?He felt… changed.

It worried him a little.

**{ELENZA "LENZ" CRESTER, DISTRICT FIVE} **

**LENZ **hurriedly ran over to Chrys before Perth could get there first.

She had talked with Isabelle, her Mentor, the night before, and she had agreed.

"Lenz, I feel that you have the strength to win. But you need allies to do that. Deep down, Perth just doesn't want you to get hurt. This Chrys girl sound competent to me, which means she'll be taken soon. Get her first," she had said.

But Chrys wasn't in the room yet. Bob climbed up on the table, said his stuff, and jumped off.

Chrys was still nowhere to be seen.

Lenz noticed Anak, Corax and Calliope were missing, too. What had happened to the District Four tributes?

**{CORAX DEN, DISTRICT FOUR} **

**CORAX **woke to the sound of breaking glass.

His body was up and out of the bed before his mind had time to register the cool air on his skin.

He located the sound to the dining area. He dashed around the corner and stopped to see...

...Calliope, crouching under the table, chairs overturned beside her, eyes wide in terror...

...Chrys, a scream burbling in her strangled throat as she trembled in her pinned position against the wall...

...and Anak, eyes wild, pinning Chrys on the wall with a chair.

Mags, their Mentor, had lines of sadness and anger on her face. "Anak! I am sorry for Isla, but that is not acceptable! Put her down!"

"She..." Anak growled. "She might as well have put Isla's head on the chopping block!"

"Anak," Mags shouted, "Chrys was not even there! I SAID PUT HER DOWN!"

Corax was startled. Mags never yelled. Ever.

Chrys had tears running down her face. "Please," she rasped. "Anak, please." Her face was turning blue. Her lips were becoming purple. Chrys was choking.

"Anak," said Mags quietly, "she wouldn't want this." She glanced at Corax. Mags nodded.

Corax walked up to Anak and took his chair.

Anak's arms went limp. He collapsed onto the floor, shaking.

Chrys collapsed, gasping. Calliope ran to her. One of the rungs in the bottom of the chair had been pressed up against her throat, which she massaged. She tried to speak, but Calliope shushed her.

Mags went to the sobbing Anak and led him to his room. Corax went to go help Calliope with Chrys, who was beginning to sob.

"What happened?" he asked Calliope.

"Anak's sister died," whispered Calliope. "He didn't take it well."

"I- I didn't do anything," cried Chrys, barely getting the words out. Corax could see bruises already forming on her throat.

"Why did he blame you?" Corax asked.

"She shadowed me when I worked in the fish-flaying factory," murmured Chrys. "Isla was a good friend. Why she would do that…" Chrys broke down into more tears.

Anak's little eleven-year-old sister had killed herself? And he had blamed Chrys, because she too had known her?

Chrys opened her mouth to speak again, but Calliope cut her off. "Uh-uh. No more talking. You're going to damage your vocal cords even more if you do that."

Chrys nodded obediently. "Good," said Calliope.

Mags walked back into the room. "Chrys, if you want, you can take the day off training."

Chrys shook her head. "Well, you're staying here until lunch anyway. Calliope, Corax?"

Corax nodded and dashed off before Calliope could even open her mouth to respond. He couldn't let this distract him from winning the Games.

**{ELENZA "LENZ" CRESTER, DISTRICT FIVE} **

**LENZ **saw Corax emerge from the elevator, and along with another girl and one of the Careers, rushed over.

"Calliope and Chrys will be down at lunch. Anak... I hope you haven't made plans for him, Rush." This last part was directed at the Career girl, who frowned. "What happened?"

"It's Anak's to tell. Don't ask me," he responded. With Rush, he walked away.

Along with the other girl (Clio Toffey) she headed off back to her ally.

{lunch}

Lenz waited eagerly for Chrys to return. She and Perth were both on edge.

Finally, Chrys and Calliope walked in, a sight for sore eyes.

Chrys's wavy-ish hair was a mess that looked as though Chrys had done her best to tame it, but had failed. Her eyes had very slight bags, along with a slightly broken look. Her throat had large, rainbow-colored bruises on them, ranging in all colors of the rainbow. It almost made Lenz gag. Her arms had a few cuts and smaller bruises.

"Chrys?!" cried Lenz. "What happened?"

All eyes were on them now. Even Bob looked curious. Calliope next to her shook her head. "She can't speak."

"Oh." Then a thought occurred to her; "Were you there?"

Calliope shifted. "Yes."

"So you know what happened, then."

"Yes."

Corax, across the room, stood. "And it's not any of our places to tell all of Panem what happened. Give her some space."

Lenz nodded, and the cafeteria resumed their conversations. She led Chrys over to their table.

Perth's mouth was agape. "Uh..." Lenz silenced him with a single look.

Chrys gave them a questioning look.

"We're in," she told Chrys.

The younger girl made a painful attempt at a smile. Perth did the same.

Perth leaned in. "Out of curiosity… is there anything you _can _tell us?"

Lenz slapped his wrist again. "Perth!"

Chrys swallowed hard. "He just... needed... someone to... blame," she rasped. "I... don't blame him."

That made no sense to Lenz, none at all. But that had to be dismissed for now. The Games had that effect, putting your life on hold.

**{BAILEY HUDAK, DISTRICT THREE} **

**BAILEY **had maybe a few minutes before Gage found her again. Before that happened, she had to find Thomas.

Goodness, that sounded weird. But Bailey had been studying Thomas. Stalking him.

That sounded weird too...

She wanted Thomas as an ally. Phew. That's what she had meant.

She found him at the bow/ arrow station. "Thomas," she nearly shouted, "allies?"

Thomas looked startled. "Uh..."

Gage caught up. "Bailey! There you are! Now..." he trailed off as he took in the scene.

Thomas still looked confused. "Um, yes?"

"Good!"

And that was that.

**{ANAK JAY, DISTRICT FOUR} **

**ANAK **couldn't stop the tears. He hated to cry. But he couldn't help it.

Mags had left the room at his request. He couldn't go down to the Training Center- who knew what Corax, Calliope and _Chrys _had told everyone? No. He couldn't do it.

Why was it that all of their names started with a C? Corax. Calliope. Chrys. Ha. Haha.

It was a terrible joke. But it kept his thoughts away from…

_Isla. _

She had been his favorite sister, the light of his life. And now, she was gone. He would miss her funeral, never get to weep as her ashes were thrown into the sea she loved so dearly.

_Look, Anak. See the waves! You could travel all around the earth and back on them. And look at the fish! See how they sparkle just so? _

She had gazed at the sea for hours. And eventually, she had drowned herself in it, letting herself sink rather than swim. Her body was lifted from it, dripping saltwater, only to be cremated and thrown back in.

He remembered the last thing she had ever said to him.

_Anak, look at me. Things leave you. People leave you. I don't want you to leave me. Please don't die in there, _she had said, wiser than her eleven years should have allowed.

She had been warning him.

_People leave you. _

She had always loved riddles. But Anak had solved this one too late.

He fingered the hair ribbon Isla had worn everywhere, that his parents had sent him through Mags. It had originally been a bright green-blue, the color of the sea. Isla's favorite color. Over time, love had worn and torn at its newness, and it was faded now.

He could imagine it in her dark hair now as she gave one of her laughs, the one that sent warmth through Anak's very being.

If only he had known she was struggling…

But once again, he was too late.

**{KEVIN DAKOTA, DISTRICT NINE} **

**KEVIN **had known since the moment he was Reaped he was going to die in the arena. And one of the things he knew as an orphan was that deaths were best if they had a purpose. And Kevin had a purpose, all right.

Maysilee Donnor.

The older girl was beautiful. She was kind and sweet and loving. She had been one of the only people to ever give Kevin any kind of affection- in this case, a smile and a nod. Also, a bread roll.

He had been dumbfounded. And he was instantly in love.

Kevin knew he had no chance with Maysilee. But he wanted to see her win the Games.

Kevin had a purpose now.

**{LUCY ELEC, DISTRICT THREE} **

**LUCY **was about to make the stupidest, most life-threatening decision of her life.

"Do you want to be allies?" she asked Huan and Haru.

The boys exchanged glances. "YES!"

***Answers: **

**1: Haymitch. (To firepoisonsteel: I guess I'll count it. Also, I'm a she.) **

**2: 4! (Calliope Gail, Chrys Galloway, Huan Jang, and Hana Roschester.) On this one, yes, Lucy Elec is thirteen, but she was submitted after the last chapter came out, so she didn't count. **

**3: Denatharf! (OR as Guest puts it, "the Three-er", which I thought was absolutely hilarious.) **

**In the Lead: firepoisonsteel and MsAir **

**Not Far Behind: ariella411 and Guest (the creator of Nova Bandox) **

**New Questions: **

**1: How many Districts have no Ghost Tributes? (no empty slots, guys. If it's full, like District Twelve, there are no ghost tributes.) {40 points}**

**2: Which Districts have no Ghost Tributes? {60 points}**

**3: Who was the first reader-submitted tribute? {80 points} I will give some hints. He was male. He is not from District Twelve. His sponsor is male. Go back to the beginning, and you should be able to figure it out. **

**To firepoisonsteel: Great! How was Denatharf this chapter? **

**To MsAir: Yup, here she is! And, well, Rush isn't the smartest, obviously. Let's see how their relationship works out after the whole Isla thing, eh? **

**To Guest: Hm, I like that idea. I may use it later on. Are you the creator of Nova? Can you use that as your name when you review? Also, I still need her quote. **

**To Jay Dawson: That alliance came out of nowhere, but once I thought about it, I decided I loved it. Good to know… and you'll have to wait and see, mwahahahaha! **

**To Remington and chimp888: Welcome to this SYOC! What do you guys think so far? **

**And so, that's it for Day Two of training and this chapter!***


	9. 8, Training Center Days, Love Triangles

***Hello, everyone! No more submitting!***

**8, Training Center Days, Love Triangles**

**{JOHAN BORDAN, DISTRICT FIVE} **

**JOHAN **was starting to worry that she hadn't made any allies yet. Especially because it was the third day of training.

That's why she was relieved when she saw Dru approach.

"Hey, Johan is it?" asked Sheen with a smile and an outstretched hand.

Johan took the hand and took it. "Yes. Dru?"

"Yes. Say, you're awfully good with that crossbow," said Dru.

"Thanks. It's one of my favorites," responded Johan.

"I prefer pistols," said Dru.

"Pistols?" said Johan, surprised. That wasn't often an answer. Of course, she was just assuming that. Most people here flocked towards the knife-throwing station, anyway.

"Yes, pistols," smiled Dru.

Johan lined up another shot and fired. Dru whistled in appreciation.

"So, let's cut to the chase. Do you want to join the alliance?"

Johan nodded. "Yes."

**{HARU PRESCOTT, DISTRICT SIX} **

**HARU **evaluated each tribute in his head after Bob jumped from the table.

That Nova girl- dang, what was wrong with her nose? But aside from that, she didn't really stick out. She was going to die in the bloodbath, being a little girl and all.

Thomas- he really never really looked at Thomas. He was bigger than Haru, but he would die anyway. Hel-_lo_, Haru was in the Games!

The Four boy- ever since yesterday, he'd been wandering around, Rush trying to distract him from his troubles. He was like a lifeless doll now. He wouldn't make it long- especially not with mighty Haru in the Games!

Rose- dang, she was hot. But she was only a pretty face. Sponsors would have flocked to her, alongside the Careers, if Haru wasn't there! He was sure he would get all the sponsors. After all, what girl didn't want him?

Gareth- well, he was a little intimidating. When the older kid stared him down, he put his fingers in his ears, crossed his eyes, and blew him a raspberry. That had startled him! Ha! No one could stand Haru Prescott, master of the raspberry!

And then there was Lucy, his newfound ally. She was smoking hot. Too bad she was in the Games. Otherwise, Haru would marry her on the spot. And she, blinded by his handsomeness and muscles, would go around proclaiming, "I've married the biggest, toughest, handsomest Victor in the world! Yup! Haru! Haru! Haru!..."

**{LUCY ELEC, DISTRICT THREE} **

**LUCY **snapped her fingers in Haru's face. "Haru! Haru? HARU!?"

He snapped out of it. "Yes, sweetie?"

Huan, behind her, clapped a hand to his forehead. Usually, Huan annoyed her almost as much as Haru. But on this matter, she had to agree with him.

"Haru, what was that?" But he was already back in his daydreams, mumbling something about being "king of the raspberries".

She really hated her choice in allies.

**{CHRYSANTHEMUM "CHRYS" GALLOWAY, DISTRICT FOUR} **

**CHRYS **was feeling much better today. The sores on her throat had begun to fade. Her chest ached less- probably because it hadn't been air-deprived so recently. And her voice was coming back, in bits and pieces.

Although, one of her good friends was still dead. That put a slight damper on things.

And Anak was like a shell now. Mags and Rush- who had taken more than a liking to him, if you knew what she meant- had to coax him to do things. Including, but not limited to, eating, dressing himself, learning survival skills, and moving. Anak had taken it hard. Chrys was wondering if he was just waiting until the Games, so he could kill her or himself.

Though a part of her still resented him from the incident on the train…

_Calliope, cheeks still drying from her good-byes earlier, stood next to Chrys. _

_Anak stood in front of them, arms crossed. _

_Corax was nowhere to be seen. _

"_Listen up," he had said. "You two aren't Career material. I'll be blunt. The Careers aren't accepting you two. You're scrawny and weak, never visited the Training Center. You're out." _

"_I thought we were friends. Acquaintances. We spent time together at the docks. We talked. What happened to all that?" Calliope had shot back. _

"_We entered the Games," Anak had responded. _

_A shiver had run down Chrys's spine. _

Happy times, those days, happy times. Back then, she'd had a few more days than she'd had now.

But she tried to stay optimistic.

Perth came over to her, on Lenz's heels, still sulking over the fact that Lenz had accepted Chrys. Boys.

"Chrys! How're you feeling today?" asked Lenz.

"Better," Chrys answered, voice raspy from disuse and pain.

"That's good," responded Lenz, aiming another arrow. She fired, so totally far from the target...

"Here," rasped Chrys. "Let me show you." Chrys tried to help her, but Lenz kept firing farther and farther away. _No one can be that terrible... _thought Chrys.

_Oh. _Chrys smiled.

She understood now.

**{TORAK WATEVR, DISTRICT TWO} **

**TORAK **was okay with Jessamine. She was strong, useful, and pretty. Smart, too. Torak hoped she wasn't as smart as he thought she would.

Because if things went the way he had planned, Jessamine would not like it. Or him. Not at all.

**{ZAYLIE WELLS, DISTRICT NINE} **

As **ZAYLIE **practiced with a bow and arrow, she thought of her situation.

She had no allies. No friends here. She wasn't incredible with any weapon, despite being trained for this, excluding bow and arrow and possibly knives. She was pretty good with survival skills.

She probably wasn't going to make it long. Loners had won before, but none of them were remotely like Zaylie. And none of them were from District Nine.

Not that anyone at home would miss her. Her brothers might miss her for a little while, but they'd get over it. It's not like District Nine had Victors often anyway. And her parents were too busy fighting.

So, with that information in mind, Zaylie wanted to make a lasting impression on the Gamemakers, the President, and all of Panem that would last for a long time with her death.

She just wasn't sure how yet.

Suicide was out. Zaylie valued her life, enough to use it for something meaningful.

Purposefully throwing herself in an enemy's path was too unpredictable.

She sighed. What was she to do?

She had no idea until she looked down and saw the hummingbird necklace, her token, wrapped around her throat.

She had an idea.

**{JJ CZERNKOWSKI, DISTRICT ELEVEN} **

**JJ **didn't spend much time at any station, excluding Camouflage. He couldn't let the other tributes know how good he was, how many skills he had.

Instead, he watched. He waited. He studied the other tributes intensely, making sure he didn't underestimate anyone. He would rather overestimate, but he stayed away from that too.

A few girls here were playing weak. One girl was on the fence for him, but he spotted at least two using that trick. And it seemed that most-or rather, all- believed them. But he spotted two that were catching on to the acts. Both to different acts, though.

He could see some tributes actually were weak, including two unspoken males. They would die in the bloodbath.

Most were just being themselves. Doing their best to learn as much as possible before they entered the arena.

Some were clearly just stupid. They might make it far, but they surely wouldn't win.

Some were acting overly strong and distanced, of which he noticed at least two. Those boys were smart. They were strong and not making any emotional connections to their allies. They would make it far.

Some were obviously the smart ones. They were the ones who really had a chance at beating them all. They tried to mask it, but to JJ it was clear.

And one guy was clearly shaken. He had been one of the strong, smart ones at the beginning, but now he was a shell. JJ pitied him a little. He had had a chance at winning, once.

But JJ didn't intend to let any of them win. Sure, he had no allies, but he was used to being alone. He had skills and strength.

He believed he could win these Games.

**{DRUSILLA "DRU" PIERCE, DISTRICT TWO} **

All **DRU **wanted to do was kick Jasper St. Louis's haughty, arrogant butt like she did the punching bags.

Sure, he might have some mediocre skill with a sword- no more than that Rose Granger, though, who had picked it up _two days ago! _And she might even be better than him. From what she'd heard of his nonstop talk, he had even been trained, and swords were his best weapon. It made her nervous to see what his skill with other weapons looked like. He was stuck-up, arrogant, and cocky.

She just hoped that would make it all the easier to kill him in the Games.

**{CORAX DEN, DISTRICT FOUR} **

**CORAX **shook his head. What had he gotten himself into?

The Careers this year were terrible. Especially for a doubled amount!

Jessamine and Torak had deserted.

Sheen couldn't be more self-centered.

Jasper was a sissy who could barely use a sword.

Sammy was an arrogant idiot with a weird name.

Rush was _not _the smartest, and she was always focused on babying Anak now.

Anak was a shell, devoid of all emotion and strength, who needed Rush to baby him.

Chrys and Calliope had been kicked out. (Well, that one might have been their own fault.)

Willow was a complete idiot. She always spoke in a slow, high pitched voice and had a way of expressing her emotions like a little kid. Corax wondered if there was something wrong with her.

The only people Corax could see as useful were Dru, Zach and Johan, who were capable of being real Careers. He might have to kill them off early, though, because he actually believed they might be capable of winning the Games.

And it took a lot to get that opinion from him.

**{JAYDANIA "JAYDE" MAREE ABBADON, DISTRICT SEVEN} **

**JAYDE **wasn't following her original plan of being aloof from other tributes. She wasn't being distanced or non talkative.

Instead, she was being herself.

She already felt strongly toward her allies. Kinley was like her twin sister. Lizzie was like her younger one. Rose was so much like her sisters at home, Gemma and Adora. God, she missed them so much.

She knew that her three allies would have to die for her to see those real sisters again. She wasn't willing to accept that, though. Loyalty was a good quality in most places. Not the Hunger Games, though. Why did the Capitol have to punish them like this? The Dark Days were fifty years past and gone. Hadn't they proved their points?

When the others died, she decided, she would be upset. She would do something, anything, to honor their horrific deaths before the hovercrafts pulled them away.

She wouldn't be one of those tributes with no emotion. She'd be a real, thinking, feeling person, no matter how painful it would be. She would let in as much as she could bear without going insane.

The only thing was, how much could she bear?

**{ROSE GRANGER, DISTRICT TEN} **

**ROSE **hadn't expected to make any allies. She was happy with her allies, something else she hadn't expected. She enjoyed spending time with her allies, the thing she had maybe thought about but never let herself hope for. Even if she knew they wouldn't last long, if things would go as she planned.

These girls- Jayde, Kinley and Lizzie- were sweet and kind and strong in incredibly diverse ways. Still, she wished for Rick and Daniel back home. She missed her best friends desperately, wanted for them so hard it ached.

But she knew no matter how hard she wished for it, nothing would ever be the same again.

**{HUAN JANG, DISTRICT FIVE} **

**HUAN **clapped a hand to his forehead. What was Haru thinking, going after his crush?

Because Huan already loved her so much, he would die for her. She was just so beautiful, and kind, and strong, and...

What an idiot he was, falling for a girl in a death match.

**{ASH TAYLOR, DISTRICT SEVEN} **

**ASH **was starting to enjoy Denatharf's company, as strange as it sounded. The kid was always bright and happy, and it reflected on Ash, just the littlest bit. He was constantly wearing his purple-patterned teapot on his head. The tunes he whistled were merry and uplifting.

The only thing was, Denatharf thought the Hunger Games were a camping competition.

"Listen" Ash started, "I need to tell you somethi-"

"You know," Denatharf chirped, "I really think that you and me can beat these other campers! I mean, we've already got-" The boy chattered on happily as he crossed the ropes course like a monkey.

Ash helplessly let him go on. He didn't want to ruin Denatharf's good mood.

He almost wished that he, like his ally, was so blissfully unaware of what he would witness in a day or so.

**{KINLEY MATHERS, DISTRICT SIX} **

**KINLEY **was breathing hard, trying to control herself. The Games were so close. She wondered how her Dad and Rosalyn were feeling. Aylee? Aragorn? Francis? Soon they might lose their daughter, their best friend, their next-door neighbor (fine, best friend, Francis) over a Games with impossible odds. They could very possibly see "The Hunger Games Girl" dead like her mother.

At least, Kinley wasn't pregnant. She was sure of that.

She needed to calm down. This wasn't like her. She was tough. She had been trained for this, a District Six Career. She was sneaky and subtle. She was a thief, as much as she hated to admit it.

It was one of her deepest secrets and regrets. She hated doing it, but it was necessary. If only she was old enough to work!

But now it was too late for all of that. Nothing would ever be the same again- she'd either die or move to the Victor's Village.

She sincerely hoped it was the latter.

**{BRYON SLINT, DISTRICT SIX} **

**BRYON **prepared to use his swagger factor.

He sauntered up to the Career pack, up to one of the girls, and winked. "Hey, beautiful."

The girl looked repulsed. "What the heck? Who are you?"

"The name's Slint, Bryon Slint," he responded, flashing her a dazzling smile.

"Well, Bryon," said the girl, suddenly changing her expression from sickened to sweet, "what would you like with us?"

"Well, first of all, your name."

"Sheen," said the girl, batting her eyes. Bryon took a step closer to her. Sheen giggled, a very high-pitched sound.

"Now, I'd like to know," said Bryon, "if you would allow me," he brushed his hand against her cheek, "to join your Pack?"

Sheen sighed. "Of course, it's not up to me," she responded. "But if it were, I'd say-"

"Yes? Thanks, Sheen, I really appreciate it," interrupted Bryon. He leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"No," she said. "If it were up to me, I'd say-"

She brought up her knee hard, and due to their close proximity, it hit the sore spot.

"OW!" shrieked Bryon. He dropped to the ground, clutching between his legs.

He could faintly hear Sheen and most of the other Careers howling over him. Sheen had seen right through him. Even the shell-shocked Four boy cracked a smile.

When he flopped over to rise from the ground and walk away, he saw Emma shaking her head at him. He scowled at the only girl that had ever turned him down. She was smarter than most, considering what went on during his "dates". Well, now, she wasn't the only one.

**{LIN YING, DISTRICT EIGHT} **

**LIN **wandered among the stations, trying to pick up as many skills as possible. She was mostly going to the ones that everyone else was avoiding. She had even been approached once, but she had rejected the guy- he was an obvious liar and just wanted to get her trust so he could kill her easily.

Eventually, she made her way over to the mace station. The attendant there looked relieved- it wasn't often visited. The man picked up a smaller mace for her and began teaching her form and how to aim.

It was obvious why the mace station was often avoided. Those maces were scary, metal spikes glistening under the artificial light. You could almost see the blood dripping from past kills. _Drip, drip. _

But these Training Center maces were never used for the Games. They were simply training tools, prepping you for the real thing. Beautiful, deadly- all seemingly. These maces could do damage for sure, but their swings would never land. These were fakes. Just like the boy who had approached her earlier.

After a half hour or so, Lin found herself enjoying using the weapon, getting the hang of it. She hoped there would be some maces in the arena.

Except, of course, not fake. The real ones, the maces that would lead her home to Chu.

Because Lin wasn't one of the fakes.

**{CLIO TOFFEY, DISTRICT TEN}**

**CLIO **was doing her best to mentally prepare herself for the Games. She was scared to death of what would happen in there. What everyone would think of her.

Calliope, on the other hand, seemed perfectly calm.

Although Clio couldn't tell if she actually wasn't scared or it was just a mask.

***Allright! Answers: **

**1: 7 Districts (at the time; 6 was just filled) **

**2: Districts 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, and 12 **

**3: Ash Taylor (thank you, Jay Dawson!) **

**New Questions: **

**1: Who approached Lin only to be turned down? {40 points} **

**2: Who is the King of the Raspberries again? {20 points} **

**In The Lead: firepoisonsteel and MsAir (creators of Denatharf/Soup and Lenz/Perth)**

**Not Far Behind: ariella411 (creator of Kinley/Zaylie/Clio) **

**To firepoisonsteel: Good, but remember he's about to find out the truth… **

**To Jay Dawson: Thanks! You got that one! **

**To Cally Hart: Thank you! That made my day. **

**To SnowQueen: Eh, you know Chrys. She'll recover soon enough. And thanks for Emma and Bryon! That helps, giving my ghost tributes a face and a name. And yeah, I got the teddy bear thing. **

**Well, guys, that's the last day of Training! Next chapter is the Quotes. Then the Games! Also, I put up a poll on my profile. Please vote, guys; I have planned about 20 deaths already; mostly tributes intended for the bloodbath and ghosts, excluding a few. That leaves 28 characters! **_**I have not yet chosen the winner. Remember, Haymitch is not guaranteed. **_**There are honestly too many tributes I love, so I am hoping for you guys to help me narrow it down a little. SO go vote now! Please avoid voting for your own tributes! You have a maximum of three votes. **

**Thanks, 17headlines **


	10. 9, Interviews

***Happy Friday! {And if you're me, four-day weekend!} This is essentially our Interview night, guys. The quotes you guys have been submitting will be shown whenever I switch to their POV. Like so: **

_John Doe- "I don't exist." _

**If you didn't submit one, I made one up for your characters. No apologies needed, knowing some of you guys. Do you get it now? Oh, well, if you don't, you'll see in the VERY NEXT CHAPTER XD GUYS THE GAMES ARE ABOUT TO BEGIN I'M SO EXCITED READY TO KILL PEOPLE **

**You know what? Forget that last part. **

**This chapter also includes alliances. **

**DISTRICT 1- LUXURY GOODS**

_Jessamine Reiss- __"Nobody here will affect my chances of winning."_

_Sheen Beath- "Ha! None of you have a chance." _

_Jasper St. Louis- "Die!" _

_Sammy Sam- "I'll win, suckers!" _

**DISTRICT 2- MASONRY/ STONEWORK **

_Drusilla "Dru" Pierce- __"I've experienced pain. My big brother died in the Hunger Games. I'm fighting for him and what I believe is right." _

_Rush Evans- __"My only regret is that I have but one life to give for my district, and my country."_

_Torak Watevr- _ _"Get the f*{k out."_

_Zach Chafee- "Everyone better watch, I'll be coming."_

**DISTRICT 3- TECHNOLOGY **

_Bailey Hudak- "I'm gonna try."_

_Lucy Elec- "Kindness can kill, did you know that?"_

_Gage Piller- "May the odds be in my favor." _

_Denatharf Likonln- "This camping competition is going to be so fun! We are going to roast marshmallows and eat hot dogs and tell ghost stories and..." _

**DISTRICT 4- FISHING **

_Calliope Gail- __"It takes twenty times to earn my trust. But it takes once to lose it."_

_Chrysanthemum "Chrys" Galloway- "I hope I can make it out of here."_

_Anak Jay- __"Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you." _

_Corax Den- "Everyone is unique, yet everyone is the same here. They all want to win." _

**DISTRICT 5- POWER **

_Elenza "Lenz" Crester- "See, the odds aren't in my favor. I either lose my brother or die. That means death either way." _

_Johan Bordan- "If I die, I die. But if I win, I win. No matter what happens I'll face it with gusto."_

_Pertheus "Perth" Crester- "I'm only going to feel like a winner if Lenz makes it out. If I live and she dies, I don't think I'd be able to live with that." _

_Huan Jang- "Y'know, I'm really glad for such a wonderful audience such as you, you know! It's so HARD to get anyone to notice my amazing charm back in my District-not even my family does *dramatic sigh*."_

**DISTRICT 6- TRANSPORTATION **

_Kinley Mathers- "I thought I was learning how to live, when truthfully, I've been learning how to die." _

_Emma Wang- "I hope Adina will be okay…"_

_Haru Prescott: "Look, I don't give a s***. I'm going to outsmart the rest of the morons here, and win." _

_Bryon Slint- "I'm sexy. And I'll beat you all to 7734." _(Type it in a calculator and turn it upside-down.)

**DISTRICT 7- LUMBER **

_Jaydania "Jayde" Maree Abbadon- "I will never give in."_

_Willow Bark- _

_Ash Taylor- "Where there is tree's and nature my spirit will never die. If there is trees in the arena, I won't die."_

_Rocky Boalba- "The survival of the hottest." _

**DISTRICT 8- TEXTILES **

_Reyna Asclepius- ""This is a win-win. I either get to see Daisy again, in death. Or I win, and, well… I win."_

_Lin Ying- "My little brother Chu is all I have left. And I intend to get back to him." _

_Soup Nazi- "_1_I WILL DESTROY MY COMPETITION WITH SOUP! SOUP IS THE WAY TO DESTROY EVERYTHING!" _

_Remulus Split- "Maybe I could… Screw it, I don't care." _

**DISTRICT 9- GRAIN **

_Zaylie Wells- "Some people just aren't cut out for this life." _

_Elizabeth "Lizzie" Growers- "Sorry, President Snow, but I really don't want to kill anyone."_

_Thomas Yonder- "This is for her. Blossom, I mean. I hope she's watching." _

_Kevin Dakota- *shakes head and walks away*_

**DISTRICT 10- LIVESTOCK **

_Clio Toffey- "There's nothing I wouldn't do to go home." _

_Rose Granger- "My friends at home like to call me Feistypants. Maybe soon, you'll see why." _

_Ron Damon- "Behold my sword." _

_Naten Piercet- "Look, I'm just trying to stay alive here. That's what most of us never want to let go- our lives." _

**DISTRICT 11- AGRICULTURE **

_Nova Bandox- "Believe me, I'm not a little girl. I'm in the Hunger Games. There's no room to be a little girl here." _

_Penelope Baltimo- "I'm often underestimated. Even by the Gamemakers." _

_Gareth Hunsaven- "Win at all costs…" _

_JJ Czernkowski- "Why, when you finally see me, it'll be too late."_

**DISTRICT 12- MINING **

_Maysilee Donnor- "Abree, I'm coming." _

_Hana Roschester- "I just want to go home." _

_Haymitch Abernathy- "I'm gonna kick your sorry asses." _

_Connor Pikaxe- "Fingers crossed…" _

_**ALLIANCES **_

_Sheen Beath, Jasper St. Louis, Sammy Sam, Drusilla "Dru" Pierce, Rush Evans, Zach Chafee, Anak Jay, Corax Den, Johan Bordan, and Willow Bark- The Careers, aka Just Shut Up And Die Already_

_Calliope Gail, Clio Toffey- We're Trying To Not Die _

_Kinley Mathers, Jaydania "Jayde" Maree Abbadon, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Growers, and Rose Granger- Girl Power! _

_Reyna Asclepius, Maysilee Donnor, Hana Roschester, and Connor Pikaxe- Fingers Crossed _

_Elenza "Lenz" Crester, Pertheus "Perth" Crester and Chrysanthemum "Chrys" Galloway- The Wrist Slappers _

_Nova Bandox and Penelope Baltimo- BFFs4Eva! _

_Lucy Elec, Huan Jang, and Haru Prescott- Shut Up Already! _

_Ash Taylor and Denatharf Likonln- The Happy Campers _

_Jessamine Reiss and Torak Watevr- We Deserted, We Desserted, It's All The Same _

_Bailey Hudak, Gage Piller, and Thomas Yonder- I Never Agreed To This _

_Gareth Hunsaven, Haymitch Abernathy- Please Go Away, You're Annoying_

_Loners: _

_Emma Wang _

_Bryon Slint _

_Rocky Boalba_

_Lin Ying_

_Soup Nazi _

_Remulus Split _

_Zaylie Wells _

_Kevin Dakota _

_Ron Damon _

_Naten Piercet _

_JJ Czernkowski _

**Well, guys, there we have it- our tributes! No more submitting! Thanks to all of you who submitted, including our lovely Guests, and next chapter, the Games will be rolling! Death! Yay!**

**Answers: **

**1: The boy who was going around trying to get trust from anyone who was a girl was… Bryon! I hate you, you jerk, you're very likely gonna die soon! **

**2: Haru. Man, he's got some issues there. Anyone who wanted to smack him, get in line- behind me and kopycat101 (his creator- thanks for him, by the way). **

**To kopycat101: I burst out laughing at least three times reading your review. But I agree, I would feel bad for his wife. Lucy, the poor girl, hopefully she'll get out of this love triangle. The fact that even Huan smacked his forehead isn't a good thing, now is it? I read the Denatharf part, too, and it made me laugh again, that's how morbid it was. But who knows what's going to happen to Denatharf… other than me! Yeah, that Career pack has some issues. I'll take note that you liked the Sheen/Bryon part XD. **

**To chimpy888: Good! I did my best to give as many characters as possible a POV before entering the Games as I could without making it tedious. That love triangle though… we'll see how that turns out… **

**To HestiaAbnegation11: Haha, you'll see… Torak, you jerk… Jessamine's not going to like you… **

**To firepoisonsteel: That's just such a good idea. I feel like turning it into a TV series now. Hm…. And, well, Torak isn't **_**that **_**terrible… is he, Jessamine? **

**To SnowQueen: Haha no, I'm okay with it. Thanks for the bloodbaths (especially Bryon), and the extra information… By the way, was the story you were reading "How To Make A Tribute For My (Or Really Any) SYOTs" by Annabeth-TheTributeThatLived? I've read it too, in fact, everyone go read that right now… after you finish this chapter! Finish this first! **

**To Erudite Katniss: Yes, it just is that most of the tributes more recently added are bloodbaths. Don't worry, I'll get it done. **

**To ariella411: Your second guess was right, so I'll give you 30 for it. **

**Remember, answer the poll! A few votes surprised me. That's good, because I know who you guys actually like now, instead of just guessing. I also rephrased it into "who do you think should survive the bloodbath?" Once again, please don't vote for your own!* **

_**Which quote was your favorite? **_

_**Alliance? **_


	11. 10, Pre-Games, Danliandrafilinda

**No tribute list today, folks. And let me tell you, it is a pain to write out Danliandrafilinda four times. I also lied to you. The bloodbath is next chapter, I swear. Whoops. **

**But I wanted to thank you guys for over 50 reviews! That makes me so amazingly happy, you have no idea! XD **

**This is a very short chapter. Next chapter will be very, very long and split into two parts. **

**{REYNA ASCLEPIUS, DISTRICT EIGHT} **

**REYNA **wasn't entirely sure her stylist wasn't off her rocker.

And Reyna knew what being off your rocker felt like. Losing an entire family did that to you. But Reyna was better now.

Wasn't she?

Danliandrafilinda finished assembling her outfit. "All done!" the stylist chirped, clapping her hands in excitement.

Reyna was wearing a skintight shirt that exaggerated how bony she still was with a pattern on neon colors all over it. Her leggings and skirt that fell to her knees matched. She felt like a unicorn had eaten a sparkly magic rainbow, thrown it up, eaten it again, pooped it out, and then Danliandrafilinda had made an outfit out of it.

In other words, she was hideous. Maybe Reyna should have thought that first…

She pulled some lint off her leggings. "Won't this make me a neon target?" she asked Danliandrafilinda.

The stylist looked up from her musings. "Hm? Oh, no, definitely not," she said, still not fully focusing on Reyna.

If this was what her outfit was like, then what was the arena?

**{ROCKY BOALBA, DISTRICT SEVEN} **

**ROCKY **knew he could be heard from at least two floors up. But he didn't care.

"I WILL NOT WEAR THIS -" he spat some of the worst curses he knew in Ryln's face.

The stylist's pretty face screwed up in frustration. "Now, Rocky," she said, seemingly calm but a bit too calm for it to be real, "for all you know, this could act as camouflage."

"IT WILL NOT ACT AS -ING CAMOUFLAGE!" he screamed, inserting cusses here and there.

"WELL, WEAR IT ANYWAY!" snapped Ryln. She pushed a button on the wall behind her, and a dart came flying from the door.

"You might win this time," said Rocky woozily, "but I'm gonna win the Games…"

And with that, he collapsed from the sedative in the blowdart.

**{ANAK JAY, DISTRICT FOUR} {THE NIGHT BEFORE}**

**ANAK **couldn't bear it any longer. He stumbled into the dining area, which still had a glowing lightbulb illuminating it. Anak felt drawn to the lightbulb like a moth to the flame.

And beneath that light was Mags, sitting and stirring a coffee. He sat next to her.

Mags examined him. Anak knew he didn't look to good. The bags under his eyes were.. um, baggier than ever. His eyes were essentially red, they were so bloodshot. His posture suggested he was an old, old man, not a teenager. And his vacant expression, he knew, must be painful to look at.

"Please," Anak croaked. "I need her."

Mags shook her head sadly. "I can't bring her back, Anak. No one can."

Anak slumped down even farther. "If only I could forget," he mumbled, dragging bloody, chewed fingernails through his choppy, knotted dull red curls. "I wish…"

He sat up straighter, to a carefully watching Mentor. "Could I?" he asked, with some enthusiasm.

Mags examined him. "If you truly believed that's what would be best." Her eyes bored into him.

Anak mumbled, "I have to." He dragged his hand through his hair. "I'm going mad, Mags, can't ya see?" He laughed, and it sounded strange even to him. It was too hollow.

"If it's what you think would be best," Mags repeated.

Anak nodded. "I need to forget her."

Mags drew in close. "Listen to me. By erasing your memory of her, you lose her even farther than you did when she died. It would be impossible to bring her back."

Anak focused for a moment. "Which would be worse?"

"That's what you have to decide." Mags responded. "Isla and possibly the Games. Or, just possibly the Games."

Anak hunched over again. "I need to think it over," he mused.

It didn't take long for him to choose.

**So! What do you guys think Anak chose? Isla and possibly the Games, or possibly the Games? **

**And for Reyna's stylist, well, her name is very fun to shout at people, as I've recently discovered. Let me help you guys: **

**Dan- Lee- An- Druh- Fih- LIN- Duh. **

**Again: **

**Dan- Lee- An- Druh- Fih- LIN- Duh. **

**You have all learned something new today. I have to say, thanks for the name, kopycat101; you influenced the invention of her name. (Duck Yoo, Sewn Carpets…) XD**

**Questions: **

**What would you do in Anak's position? Take the memories and enter the Games with a much lower probability in winning? Or lose her, and possibly win it all? {Will decide points later.}**

**Spell Reyna's stylist's name? Correctly? {Ten points} **

**There were no true answers for last chapter, so… **

… **To firepoisonsteel: sorry about exciting you and then not delivering… also, we have something to discuss over PM… **

**To chimpy888: Yes, Nova's quote made you think. I wonder what the Capitolites would say to that. **

**To HestiaAbnegation11: Yes, Lizzie's quote was a lot like Nova's. Lizzie is much older than Nova, but she acts a lot younger. Nova's a much harder tribute, has seen more of hardship than Lizzie, which has aged her faster than any old thing like time would. And yes, I see the favoritism, but we'll have to see how long this alliance lasts… **

**To SnowQueen: Yes! I hope some of you guys would go read "How To Make A Tribute For My (Or Really Any) SYOTs" by Annabeth-TheTributeThatLived as soon as possible. It's very informational. Good to know you liked the quotes! Yes, there was a Frozen reference in there… **

**To Yolo: Okay, cool. **

**To randomness: I agree. **

**ANSWER THE POLL GUYS! I NEED MORE VOTES! ANSWER THE POLL! **


	12. 11, Games, Bloodbath Part One

**No tribute list, as we are done submitting (finally :P)! At the end of each chapter, however, I will post deaths/obituaries. I will also include the living on this list, as when I read other SYOCs, I keep forgetting who's in and who's out. So I will do that for you. Yay! And we have the Interview quotes in italics beside each new POV. Okay? Okay! **

**Finally, we enter the Games, beginning with… **

**{RON DAMON, DISTRICT TEN} -**_Behold my sword. _

**RON **felt the platform rising up, up, up, the sunlight above him blinding him temporarily. He forced his eyes to recover quickly, to take in as much as possible.

The world around him was also blinding. Neon in every spectrum, the colors radiated off every leaf of every tree, every blade of grass waving in the breeze. The world was the rainbow. Off in the distance, he could make out a mountain, a bright lilac with lush, colorful plants surrounding it. Tributes were scattered very far from the Cornucopia in a large circle. Most of them, like him, were eying the mass of supplies.

As the clock ticked down to its final seconds, he heard an explosion close off to his left. _Boom! _Startled, he lost his balance on the platform and fell to the ground a few feet below him.

**{ZAYLIE WELLS, DISTRICT NINE} -**_Some people just aren't cut out for this life. _

**ZAYLIE **gripped her token tightly, knuckles turning white. She had spotted what she wanted in the neon yellow Cornucopia; she had a target; and most importantly, she had a plan.

Fingers shaking, she undid the clasp of her necklace. Sure, she was giving away her life voluntarily. That didn't make it any less terrifying. In fact, it almost made her even more scared; she was essentially laying down her life vulnerably, just waiting to be killed torturously by the Capitol.

She stared at the green hummingbird one last time, clenched in her fist. A puncture in her hand started to bleed from the bird's sharp beak. She gave it a kiss and hurled it far to her left, to be obliterated by the mines below, five seconds before the countdown finished.

As the Ten boy fell from his podium and was obliterated along with her target, as everyone else was distracted by explosions and screaming and blood and shrapnel flying through the air, she made a run for the Cornucopia.

**{CORAX DEN, DISTRICT FOUR} -**_Everyone here is different, yet the same. They all want to win. _

**CORAX **felt the ground rumble. He heard the screaming, he saw the blood, he watched the shrapnel fly through the air.

But he wasn't really paying attention. It was across from him; it was too far away for him to really be affected. But he admired the Nine girl's move, even if it meant the Capitol would kill her later. It was bold. It would make her remembered, an unusual feat for a tribute from District Nine.

To him, all this just meant the Games had begun.

He was one of the first to reach the neon yellow Cornucopia, reaching it just after the Nine girl disappeared into the arena, temporarily safe. He grabbed a nice, sharp sword, and ran into the crowd.

He was hunting.

**{MAYSILEE DONNOR, DISTRICT TWELVE} -**_Abree, I'm coming. _

**MAYSILEE **almost fell from her platform when Ron fell. But she regained her balance, just as the buzzer rang.

Distracted and disoriented, she wandered off her platform into the battle. She fully came to focus, however, when she saw a Career, Corax, his name was, whirling at her like in a dance, axe in hand.

She flinched, waiting for him to strike her. Knowing he was moving too fast for her to get out of the way in time.

But it never came.

A _thump! _rang in her ears. Corax whirled away, in his tornado, not caring about who he felled, just caring that they were dead. She examined the dying boy before her.

His eyes fluttered. His brown hair was rumpled, his face was dirty already, and his body was in two pieces. Maysilee knew there was no saving him.

She knelt over him. He was convulsing. A tear came from her eye. This boy had sacrificed himself for her. That was the only thing that could have happened, with him leaping in front of her the way he did. He screamed in pain, but with no sound, curled into a tight ball, and died, his mouth still open in a silent scream.

Maysilee forced herself to stand. She took off, making herself run to the outskirts of the Cornucopia to get something, anything.

**{EMMA WANG, DISTRICT SIX} -**_I hope Adina will be okay… _

**EMMA **was startled a little by the two explosions across the arena. _Bam, bam! _Unfortunately, the Nine girl cost her her head start.

Desperate, she dove into the Cornucopia. She grabbed a backpack and sprinted away from the blood flying everywhere.

As she neared the edge of the forest, she felt an intense pain in her lower back.

She kept running until the pain was gone.

**{ANAK JAY, DISTRICT FOUR} -**_Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you. _

**ANAK **had never been more ready to kill.

When the timer rang, he was one of the first to reach the Cornucopia, right after Corax and at the same time as Dru and Zach. As agreed, he hung back, gripping a pointed weapon in hand. The district partners nodded at him and dashed off to the mass of tributes, aiming at as many of the confused tributes as possible.

Anak didn't have time to dwell on that, however. He was busy defending the Cornucopia in a matter of seconds. One of the girls, he thought she was from Six, was attacking him and dragging her fingernails down his face, leaving bloody lines behind.

So when there was a rustle among the bags, he didn't notice.

**{PENELOPE BALTIMO, DISTRICT ELEVEN} -**_I'm often underestimated. Even by the Gamemakers. _

**PENELOPE **had found this plan to be easier than she had expected. Anak was hardly paying any attention to the supplies themselves; instead, he was making sure no one was coming to close.

Sadly, he had failed. But Penelope really couldn't blame him. Kinley was proving to be a determined foe, even with only her bare hands. Or, well, maybe fingernails would be more accurate.

She tied five bags together with a nearby rope, and hoisted three onto her back. She sprinted away as fast and quietly as she could, weighed down by the backpacks. She gave a silent grunt. What was _in _those things?

She heard a scream from Kinley. She must have been hit. Soon, she would be defeated, and Anak would return his attention to the pile.

She began to run from the battle in front of her. The bags weighed her down immensely; she wasn't able to run nearly as fast as she could with no weight on her back, just her body and soul, free as a bird.

But she kept up her pace, knowing it meant her life if she didn't. She sprinted into the glistening, dangerous woods, away to the meeting place she and Nova had agreed on.

She had made it out without a scratch. Unlike Anak.

**{GAGE PILLER, DISTRICT THREE} -**_May the odds be in my favor._

**GAGE **saw that Bailey was about ten tributes from his right. Thomas was about five more from Bailey. He sighed inwardly. The Gamemakers had likely separated them on purpose.

Two loud _bang!_s came from the area where Bailey and Thomas were located. Shrapnel, some sort of blackened metal with a sharp, beak-shaped point, lodged itself in his arm. He yelled in frustration; by that time, the timer had already rung and a few tributes had already died.

He ran to the Cornucopia, clenching his teeth and trying to ignore the warm, sticky blood running down his left arm. He found Bailey, a small pack in hand, and grabbed her with his uninjured arm. She went along with no hesitation, even possibly helping pull him along. He took note of various cuts on her open skin, as well as some torn pieces of fabric dangling from her clothes.

They found Thomas, slightly larger pack in hand, right side of his body covered in scratches and blood, and with him they then fled the terrors reining behind them.

**{JAYDANIA "JAYDE" MAREE ABBADON, DISTRICT SEVEN} -**_I will never give in. _

**JAYDE **was slightly rattled by an explosion across the clearing. Fortunately, she was as far away as could be, and managed to make it to the Cornucopia without too much trouble. That means she didn't run into anyone.

When she arrived, she found Kinley and Anak wrestling, sword versus claws. She also took note of one of the Eleven girls sneaking away with packs tied to her belt. She wished she had thought of that.

She jumped on Anak from behind. He screeched and tried to get his rider off, but Jayde hung on. It made her wonder if she had some distant family in Ten or something. Kinley managed to knock him out, and the two girls grabbed two packs each and fled, trying to get to Lizzie and Rose.

They met Rose about ten feet from the Cornucopia. She joined them.

Now, all that was left was Lizzie.

**{ELIZABETH "LIZZIE" GROWERS, DISTRICT NINE} -**_Sorry, President Snow, but I really don't want to kill anyone. _

**LIZZIE **felt herself gasp. She couldn't breathe.

Sammy Sam, one of the One Careers, had pounced on her from the platform next to hers as soon as the buzzer's sound had filled the air. He had tackled her to the ground.

Now, he was trying to strangle her.

She bit and kicked, and for the past few moments, that had seemed to work. But Sammy was stronger now. He was becoming more resistant. And Lizzie was losing energy. She couldn't keep it up forever.

Just when she thought she was going to die, Sammy fell on top of her, blood spurting from the hole in his lower back and from the hole in his neck. Her three allies stood above her, faces grim. Rose's sword and Kinley's knife shone red.

Jayde helped her up, and they ran for the nearby forest.

**{LUCY ELEC, DISTRICT THREE} -**_Kindness can kill, did you know that?_

**LUCY **had managed to snag a backpack and some knives laying around the Cornucopia. She had stayed far away from the unconscious Anak for fear of waking him. Now, she found herself searching the nearby battles for Haru and Huan. She had a feeling that she would never forgive herself if she left Huan or Haru to die here, defenseless and alone and betrayed. Guilt would eat her alive, even if this was the Games.

She spotted the Eleven girl, Nova, sitting on top of a dead Haru, removing a bloodstained knife from his forehead. As soon as Nova ran towards the area Penelope had run and was out of sight, she ran over to him. She gave a sad smile at his body, splayed out, an expression of surprise on his face. He must have never seen it coming, and it was the cause of her soft smile. Haru was usually the one surprising _you_. She kissed her thumb and drew it over Haru's mouth, an ancient symbol for _goodbye _they performed at funerals back home in Three. She stood from his prone form to see Huan behind her, a bloody knife in his eye.

Huan collapsed on top of her, dead. She shoved him off, startled. She began to sob as she ran away from the rainbow clearing, away from the only people that might have given her shelter and safety and hope.

Even if they were Haru and Huan.

**{DENATHARF LIKONLN, DISTRICT THREE} -**_This camping competition is going to be so fun! We are going to roast marshmallows and eat hot dogs and tell ghost stories and… _

**DENATHARF **was seeing the Games for the first time.

Death reigned freely around him. He watched in horror as Zaylie from Nine tossed her necklace and killed three people. He saw Kinley from Six drag her fingernails down Anak from Four's face, ripping his skin. He gaped as he watched Corax from Four slice Kevin from Nine cleanly in half, watched Maysilee from Twelve stagger away from his body with a blank expression. He saw Nova from Eleven stab Haru from Six in the forehead, screaming terrible words in his surprised face, saw Lucy give him the ancient sign for _goodbye_. He watched as Huan from Five jumped before Lucy, shielding her from the knife of Sheen from One. He was breathing heavily as he watched the Games from the first time, watching mere children slice into each other without a second glance.

All to save themselves.

He was still on his gleaming podium, now splattered with blood. He was tackled down to the ground, knocking the breath out of him. He screamed and struggled against the body on top of his, keeping him from getting up. The body finally jumped back up. Denatharf leaped up with him, ready to attack him.

It was Ash.

Ash scooped up Denatharf, who was now limp with terror. He began to sob as Ash carried him away from the nightmare that had changed Denatharf forever.

**{TORAK WATEVR, DISTRICT TWO} **_-F^{k off. _

**TORAK **wasn't very surprised to find Anak unconscious at the bottom of the Cornucopia. He kicked him out of the way and grabbed two large backpacks. They were big and bulky, and rather heavy. He also grabbed two swords, a set of knives, and a rope that was lying nearby.

He found Jessamine battling Corax, who had already killed several people.

He slammed the butt of one of his swords into the spot right between Corax's eyes, making him crumple. Rush came charging at the two before he could finish him off, and Torak and Jessamine had no choice but to run.

**{SHEEN BEATH, DISTRICT ONE} -**_Ha! No one here has a chance! _

**SHEEN, **feeling victorious after getting rid of Huan, knew exactly who she wanted to kill next. The jerk that had tried to worm his way into the Careers, thinking her a weak link. He was going down.

She spotted him jumping off his podium, surveying the area cautiously. She charged, yelling random words at him. His eyes went wide as she stabbed him through the chest with her sword.

"HA!" she screamed. "YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD MANIPULATE ME, DID YOU?"

Bryon choked in surprise, sword still in his chest.

"NICE TRY! YOU HAVE BEEN SHEEN'D, PUNK!" she yelled, kicking him to the ground. He choked again, blood spurting from his wound. She grinned evilly, and was overjoyed to see fear in his eyes. Good. She gripped the handle, still grinning, and began to twist as Bryon howled. She pulled as she twisted, blood streaming through the cracks the metal didn't occupy. When she finished, he was still, his chest barely moving.

With a venomous laugh, she plunged the sword through his heart.

**{NOVA BANDOX, DISTRICT ELEVEN} -**_Believe me, I'm not a little girl. I'm in the Hunger Games. There's no room to be a little girl here. _

Ever since Haru had made that stupid comment about **NOVA'S **nose, she had known she had wanted to kill him. Telling Penelope this, they agreed on a plan- Penelope would get supplies, and Nova would hunt down Haru.

He wasn't difficult to find, even though the two mines exploded and disoriented her for a time. She found the body of one of the Six girls, and removed the knife in her back and her pack before scanning the crowds of battles.

She noted at least five bodies on the ground, still a minute or two into the Games. Wow. She also noted a few people fleeing- that huge four-girl alliance, for instance. She saw Penelope tying bags together. She had to hurry- sooner or later, someone would kill Haru, or Nova, or both.

Finally, there he was, standing around idly and twiddling his thumbs. She could hear him _whistling. _Whistling! What was wrong with this boy? He was literally a sitting duck!

That would just make it all the easier for her to kill him.

She did a flying tackle- one that she had learned at home, not at the Training Center- and pinned him to the ground. He spluttered and coughed, spitting in her face, and Nova growled. "Haru."

"Yes?" Haru asked tentatively.

"You know something?"

"What?"

"There is nothing wrong with my nose," she told him, as calmly as possible. Haru scrunched up his eyebrows.

"What are you talking about?"

"Excuse me?" Did this idiot not understand that she was about to kill him?

"Your nose is, like, the longest I've ever seen."

"No. IT. ISN'T!" yelled Nova. She chucked the knife into his forehead, losing her temper.

She stood and looked toward where Penelope lingered at the edges of the forest, looking worried. She ran to her ally, and together- the two girls and their six packs- they dashed from the blood that stained the ground in the clearing, the blood that would mark that ground forever.

She hoped the ground wouldn't mind.

**{DRUSILLA "DRU" PIERCE, DISTRICT TWO) -**_I've experienced pain. My big brother died in the Hunger Games. I'm fighting for him and what I believe is right. _

**DRU **was angry. She had yet to make a kill. She would need sponsors sooner or later, of she was correct. And the more kills you made, the more sponsors you gained. Like they said, no pain, no gain- except it wasn't her who was feeling pain.

She was wielding a lightweight, long sword that she was flipping over and over in her hands as she searched for targets, an old habit she had picked up years ago. Finally, she spotted to weaker of the Seven boys- Rocky, his name was. She only remembered him from thinking that his name was better suited to Two than Seven. But, oh well. He was going to die anyway.

By her hands.

A shiver ran up her back. Dru wasn't sure whether she was excited or scared. She decided on excitement, because fear was one of the greatest weaknesses in this place. Tributes had proved it dozens of times. She simply couldn't afford to have fear weighing her down.

His death was quick and painless.

**{NATEN PIERCET, DISTRICT TEN} -**_Look, I'm just trying to stay alive here. That's what most of us never want to let go of- our lives. _

**NATEN** was running as far away from the bloodbath as fast as he could, not even bothering to be quiet. His only thoughts were _away, away, away, _as if he was a cow being herded by sheepdogs back home.

Eventually, after he had run at least a mile, he stopped to catch his breath. Sweat poured over his face and chest. He was breathing heavily. His brown hair was drooping. His cheeks were so vibrant they matched some of the red hues of the arena.

Speaking of it, he took a panting moment to inspect his surroundings. It was a forest- the shady mountain covered by the bright, glistening leaves above him, so thick the mountain wasn't visible anymore.. Every plant was a neon shade of the rainbow, and some shades he hadn't known had existed. They were brighter than the Capitolites, which was saying something.

But the queer thing was, there was no sound. None at all. Only him and the plants. He hadn't noticed it immediately, being busy running for his life, but now that he stopped he heard nothing else. It had an eerie effect. No bugs, thankfully, no animals, nothing except for the tributes, the ground, and the mountain this year. Unless the game was all hidden somewhere.

Speaking of food, his stomach was rumbling. He hadn't eaten that morning out of nerves, and he had sprinted from the Cornucopia, not to it. It hadn't helped that things had started exploding before the timer clicked its way to zero. His already frayed nerves had been set on fire, and he hadn't hesitated in bolting.

His stomach growled again, louder this time. He needed food, and soon.

He walked, searching for animals he could strangle or some fruit on the trees. Sure enough, there some was, hanging from the electrifying pink leaves and white-light blue stems. The berries themselves were a glistening red, almost as if daring you to eat them. Naten gladly divulged in the temptation.

Hm. The berries were sugary sweet flavor, purer than sugar. He enjoyed the taste of them for a few seconds, until he tasted something else. Something… sour, bitter. His stomach had quieted, giving him an uneasy feeling.

He swallowed.

Where did all the neon go?

**OBITUARIES **

**RON DAMON, DISTRICT TEN: **Ron, the Games can unbalance you pretty easily, and you're a prime example of that. Maybe if you hadn't been a bloodbath originally, you would have lived longer. None of us really knew anything about you, though, so we won't remember you that well.

**KEVIN DAKOTA, DISTRICT NINE: **Kevin, that was a pretty noble move there, saving Maysilee because you loved her at first sight, as you explained in the Training Center. And you fulfilled that goal. Good for you.

**EMMA WANG, DISTRICT SIX**: Sadly, you too were written to be a bloodbath. I might have liked to keep going on this enemy thing you have with Bryon; but I needed to get rid of _someone_. So, girl, it was you. You may wonder; who killed you? Aha, we'll have to wait until next chapter for that!

**SAMMY SAM, DISTRICT ONE: **What a cruel person you are! Well, I suppose we can't blame you. But you should have remembered who Lizzie's allies were, and maybe it would have been a better move to tackle, perhaps, Remulus instead. But, oh well, you're dead now.

**HARU PRESCOTT, DISTRICT SIX: **This one was your own fault, buddy. Huan _told _you Nova had no issues with her nose. And she killed you for it. Ah, well, you were pretty funny to all of us readers; we'll miss your stupid comments on people's noses.

**HUAN JANG, DISTRICT FIVE: **Huan, you even told yourself. Falling for a girl in the Games is a big no-no. You were noble in the end though, using yourself as a human shield. Good job.

**BRYON SLINT, DISTRICT SIX: **Again, your own fault. Don't mess with Sheen, you idiot.

**ROCKY BOALBA, DISTRICT SEVEN: **We aren't really sure of how you died, we just know it didn't last long. You annoyed me so much, I almost wanted to have you tortured. But Dru needed a POV, and because she isn't insane, I settled for something else. I don't think we'll miss you.

**NATEN PIERCET, DISTRICT TEN: **Naten, Naten, Naten. I don't care how hungry you were, that was _not _a good idea.

**Total Deaths This Chapter: 9 **

**Deaths Total: 9 **

Alive: Jessamine, Sheen, Jasper, Dru, Rush, Torak, Zach, Lucy, Bailey, Gage, Denatharf, Anak, Corax, Lenz, Johan, Perth, Kinley, Jayde, Willow, Ash, Reyna, Lin, Soup, Remulus, Zaylie, Lizzie, Thomas, Clio, Rose, Nova, Penelope, Gareth, JJ, Maysilee, Hana, Haymitch, and Connor.

Dead: Sammy(Rose's sword), Huan(Sheen's sword), Emma(someone's knife), Haru(Nova's knife), Bryon(Sheen's sword), Rocky(Dru's sword), Ron(Zaylie's bombs), Naten(poisonous berries).

Kills:

Sheen: Huan, Bryon

Dru: Rocky

Corax: Kevin

Zaylie: Ron, Unknown, Possibly Another Unknown

Rose: Sammy

Naten: Himself

Nova: Haru

Unknown: Emma

**We need to have a brainstorm for a moment here. **

**Zaylie threw her necklace at someone, correct? Was it ever specified? **

**No. **

**So who was it?**

**Denatharf noted that Zaylie "killed three people". That would be Ron and two others. However, in his shock, Denatharf may have miscounted, as all the other tributes specified two dead, although many were injured.  
>We also have to note, however, that because Zaylie, Kinley, Jayde, Lizzie, Rose, Nova, Penelope, Denatharf, Ash, Gage, Bailey, Thomas, and Lucy were counted running from the bloodbath alive, they were not any of the targets. And Corax, Anak, Dru, Sheen, Rush, and Zach either had POVs or were mentioned by Anak, <strong>_**after **_**she threw the necklace, so they weren't the target. Torak and Jessamine were also still alive after the bombs, although they were being hunted the last time we saw them. Also, nine other tributes have already died, so it isn't any of them. **

**This leaves the other 16 or so tributes that could have been the target that are still alive and have not been mentioned in this chapter. {For all you worriers, of course some will die next chapter, but each alliance will have at least one POV, okay?}**

**So who do you think died from the mines? {Points depend on correct guesses.} You are allowed two guesses. Options are Jasper, Calliope, Chrys, Lenz, Johan, Perth, Willow, Reyna, Lin, Soup, Remulus, Clio, Gareth, JJ, Hana, Haymitch, and Connor. Choose wisely. **

**What did you think if Denatharf's POV? It made me feel like crying when I wrote it… **

**What do you think of the first half of the bloodbath in general? Deaths, kills, et cetera? **

**Be ready for Part Two!**


	13. 12, Games, Bloodbath Part Two

***Trumpets blare* HEAR YE, YEAR HE, I NOW GIVE YOU THE SECOND HALF OF THE FIFTIETH HUNGER GAMES BLOODBATH! ENJOY!* **

**{SOUP NAZI, DISTRICT EIGHT} -**_ I WILL DESTROY MY COMPETITION WITH SOUP! SOUP IS THE WAY TO DESTROY EVERYTHING!_

**SOUP **was wandering the forest of the arena, searching for ingredients.

Oh, for what?

SOUP.

He pulled up some tasty-looking ferns and roots and dropped them into a lake he had found that was literally boiling. He pulled up some mushrooms and frowned at them. Mushroom soup? He'd never made that before. But he was the master of soup. He could make any soup taste good.

So, with that thought, he mashed the mushrooms with his shoe, then tossed them into the boiling lake. A nice, soup-y aroma filled the air. Mmm. Soup. He just hoped the mushrooms hadn't gone bad. He wouldn't know. Like he said, he'd never worked with mushrooms before.

He sat down, humming a song about soup (he'd composed it himself) and waited for the soup to come down to a nice, flavored brew.

**{REMULUS SPLIT, DISTRICT EIGHT} -**_Maybe I could… Screw it, I don't care._

**REMULUS **could hear nothing but his labored pants, caused by sprinting away from the bloodbath as soon as the clock ticked down. He wheezed, bending over to catch his breath.

A twig snapped behind him.

Terrified, he bolted. A snarl escaped from behind him, and whoever it was gave chase. He ran blindly, not caring where he went as long as it was away, away, away.

"Stop running," said a voice behind him, sounding mockingly kind. "We'll catch you anyway." He could almost hear the evil smile in the words.

A new burst of adrenaline came over him, and his pace increased. He had probably beat his old running record by now. But the thing behind him just kept coming. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing a glint of metal flash in the sunlight.

"Stop playing with him," a voice grumbled. "We just have to kill him. You're making things harder."

"We're going to catch him anyway," the first voice, a female's, responded. "Why not have some fun while we're at it?"

"Because I don't delight in killing people. It just has to be done." The second voice, belonging to a male, shot back.

"Shut up, both of you," came a third male voice. "He's getting away!"

Remulus leapt over a fallen yellow tree trunk, nearly tripping over the hurdle. The voices behind him quieted, and Remulus found himself alone with his terror. His legs burned, pleading to slow. But Remulus kept going, fear egging him on. He began to whimper as the footsteps came closed.

Up in the trees ahead, he saw a glimmer of reflective light. He dismissed it, thinking it to be an exhaustion-induced mirage.

He ran into something hard, and felt himself rebound from it onto the neon green forest floor. But he felt it limply, as if he wasn't in his body. He felt his body twitch numbly.

Blackness.

**{ZACH CHAFEE, DISTRICT TWO} -**_Everyone better watch, I'll be coming._**  
>ZACH <strong>stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing Remulus's body, twitching uncontrollably. His eyes were glassed over, and when Zach poked him with his boot, the younger boy didn't move. Blood was dripping from his nose.

"How did he die?" he asked Anak, who had stopped beside him.

Anak peered into the trees ahead for a long moment. "We must have run him into the force field," he responded. "That's the only logical explanation. Besides, he looks like he was electrocuted- his fingertips are black." He pointed to the boy's hand.

Anak was confusing. He had been moping around, depressed yesterday. But now… he wasn't.

Sheen nodded beside Anak. "I guess that makes sense," she grumbled, disappointed at not being able to kill him herself. She rested her sword's tip in the dirt, sunlight glinting off it menacingly.

"We're pretty far from the Cornucopia, if we actually ran him into the force field," said Zach, referring to the place the rest of his allies were stationed. "We should head back."

His other two allies nodded, and they turned back from Remulus, following the path of trampled plants.

**{NOVA BANDOX, DISTRICT ELEVEN} -**_"Believe me, I'm not a little girl. I'm in the Hunger Games. There's no room to be a little girl here._

**NOVA **and Penelope had finally stopped running after the screams of the bloodbath were too far away to be heard. They were close to the giant mountain, making camp.

She couldn't believe she had lost her temper like that. She _never_ lost her temper. What had happened? She stared at her hands, still splattered with blood that didn't belong to her.

She had killed a person. Someone was dead because of her.

_Stop it, _she told herself. If she wanted to survive these Games, she had to forget about Haru and his dumb comments.

**{JESSAMINE REISS, DISTRICT ONE} - **_No one here affects my chances of winning. _**  
>JESSAMINE, <strong>like Remulus, was running for her life.

Rush's battle cry could be heard about ten yards behind her. Jessamine swatted aside branches in her path. Rush just cut them down or simply barreled through them, determined to kill her and Torak. Torak could be felt beside her, breathing heavily as he ran from Rush.

"We used to be friends!" Rush cried. "Like, good friends! And now you've gone off with _her, _and deserted us, so that means you're dead!"

Rush and Torak used to be friends back in Two? Jessamine never would have guessed. Torak didn't reply to Rush, saving his breath for escape.

"Quick," he hissed to Jessamine, "we have to hide or she _will _catch up. Find a good tree and stay quiet."

Jessamine nodded in understanding. She broke off to the right, climbing partway up a tree as soon as she was off the path Rush was still on. She hauled up her pack as quietly as possible and crouched in her perch, peering out through the branches.

Rush stopped in a slight clearing, searching for her targets. She spotted a set of footprints and began to follow them, watching the trees around her.

_She knows, _Jessamine realized. _She knows we hid from her. _

And to her horror, it was her tracks Rush was following.

Rush stopped where her tracks did beside her tree. Jessamine held her breath and waited. Rush walked around a little, trying to see if Jessamine's tracks continued. When she found they didn't, she returned to the base of the tree Jessamine was hiding in.

Rush's face had a dawning of understanding, and she followed the trunk up, right to where Jessamine was holding her breath.

"I see you," she whispered, and started climbing up after her.

**{THOMAS YONDER, DISTRICT NINE} **_- This is for her. Blossom, I mean. I hope she's watching. _

**THOMAS **followed Gage, Bailey beside him, as they ran from the Cornucopia. He could feel blood oozing down his face lazily, then flicking away into the wind Thomas was stirring up. He wanted to slow badly, but Gage refused to stop. A glance at Bailey told him she felt the same way; and like him, she had cuts and scrapes.

That bomb… Thomas couldn't believe Zaylie had done that. He felt sorry for the people she had killed, too- they'd never had a chance. It was a selfish move on Zaylie's part, even if the Capitol would kill her for it later. He had only been a few pedestals from Ron, the only one he had seen blow up. The rest had already been incinerated. He shuddered. If Zaylie had misjudged, he could have blown up along with Ron. Or maybe she had been aiming for him, and just missed. Thomas preferred to think the former. Either way, it had scared him to bits.

It had shown him the Games were just beginning.

And his revenge was getting closer.

That District Five boy was already dead in his book.

**{ASH TAYLOR, DISTRICT SEVEN} -**_Where there is tree's and nature my spirit will never die. If there is trees in the arena, I won't die._

**ASH **set Denatharf down gently on a tangerine log. He was worried about the younger boy- goodness, if he put himself in Denatharf's point of view…

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "I tried to tell you, but…" And it was true. He had tried, only to stop himself from giving him the news.

Denatharf just sat there blankly. Then, "My parents never told me that. They shielded my eyes when I was little. They told me the Games were a camping competition." He fell silent, staring into space.

"Denatharf…"

"It's not their fault. They didn't want me to be scarred or something. But…" he trailed off, focusing on Ash now. "I saw something today, Ash. I saw Lucy tell Haru goodbye like we do at funerals. She was upset by his death. Then Huan threw himself in the way of a knife headed for her while she mourned."

"What about it?" He had vaguely seen the scene play out; but he had been a little preoccupied getting supplies and Denatharf.

"They were friends," Denatharf whispered. "And now they're not. I watched Nova kill Haru, too."

"Yes. I saw." Denatharf seemed lost in a trance. "Hey, you're alive. Their deaths mean one more step to going home, Denatharf."

"What if I don't deserve to go home?"

"You do." Ash was gripped by the reality of this statement. "You're the kindest, sweetest, funniest guy I know. You're Denatharf. You are deserving of the chance to leave this place," he told him. "We all are, excluding the volunteers who chose to come here. We didn't choose this, but we try to make the best of it and try to get home."

"But Ash," Denatharf said simply, "I want you to go home too."

**{REYNA ASCLEPIUS, DISTRICT EIGHT} -**_This is a win-win. I either get to see Daisy again, in death. Or I win, and, well… I win._

**REYNA **kept up a steady jog through the neon forest.

Of course, until she tripped over a tree root.

She sprawled on the forest floor, cutting her chin. She winced as she got to her feet, seeing a fair amount of blood on her hand when she wiped it off. Shrugging, she pulled a strip of fabric from her unicorn-barf leggings to hold to the wound. It began to sting.

Hana, a few yards ahead, called out "Wait! We lost Reyna!" Her three allies jogged back towards her, still sitting on the ground.

"You okay?" asked Connor, helping her up. Maysilee still looked a little shell-shocked, but Hana was wearing a hardened look. Connor was the same as he'd always been.

She nodded once she was on her feet. "Yeah. Just tripped."

Connor nodded. "Okay. I think we should keep going for a while longer, then stop and see what we've got in our packs. Does that sound okay?"

Reyna nodded again, along with Maysilee and Hana. She wanted to investigate the packs she had gotten at the bloodbath too. They had been quite heavy. She'd gotten two, Connor had snatched two as well, and Hana had grabbed a smaller one. Maysilee had gotten nothing, being busy with the whole Kevin thing.

Hana had been the one to find Maysilee in the end, wandering around, stumbling, looking numb. She'd gotten a bit more… animated in the past twenty minutes, but Reyna was still a little worried.

"Maysilee," Reyna said, pulling her back a little as they continued jogging, "are you okay?"

"Yes," said Maysilee. She sounded unconvinced.

"Look," responded Reyna. "Kevin got in the way for you. He knew he wasn't going to win. So he wanted to make sure you could. Don't let him sacrifice himself only for it to be thrown away, okay?"

Maysilee nodded. Reyna could almost see the thoughts running through her head. _This girl knows too much about death. She's seen too much for it to affect her anymore. Other than her family. _

And Reyna completely agreed with those thoughts.

**{LUCY ELEC, DISTRICT THREE} -**_Kindness can kill, did you know that? _

**LUCY **sobbed as she ran through the trees. She was alone. Lucy hated being alone.

She was alone, that is, until she heard a grunt of surprise and felt herself bounce backwards.

She scrambled up to protect herself, then realized it was futile. "Just get it over with quickly," she cried, looking at who she had run into.

**{JOHAN BORDAN, DISTRICT FIVE} -**_If I die, I die. If I win, I win. No matter what happens I'll face it with gusto. _

**JOHAN **sat at the base of the Cornucopia, busily watching Anak drool.

She rolled her eyes and poked him with her foot again. Nothing.

"Maybe you should poke him harder," suggested Willow in her annoying high-pitched voice.

_Like I didn't already think of that, _Johan thought. But she obliged, and kicked him in the ribs.

Anak groaned and sat up. _What do you know? _Johan thought, surprised. "What happened?" he asked, rubbing his head. "I don't remember being hit in the ribs."

But Johan was distracted by something else. "Willow, Anak," she whispered. "The bushes over there. Shut up."

They both nodded grimly and focused on the bushes.

Johan took a head count. Dru was sitting behind Willow, slowly standing up and cocking her pistol. Yes, Dru had found a pistol. Willow was just in front of Dru, shutting up for once. Anak was at her feet, peering into the bushes as well.

Zach, Corax, and Sheen were out hunting down tributes. Rush was chasing Jessamine and Torak. There were nine living Careers. Johan had only counted eight, including herself.

Who was missing?

The bushes visibly rustled. Johan whispered to Willow, "Quick. Start talking again. Pretend like we know nothing."

"Okay!" Willow practically shouted. "Where did the other guys go?"

"Rush went to go find Jessamine and Torak, remember?" Dru responded, picking up on the tactic.

"The guys who deserted us, right?" asked Willow.

"Yup," replied Anak. "Sheen, Zach and Corax went after that boy from Eight. They've probably killed him by now. Right now, they should be heading back or else have picked up on someone else's trail."

"Oooooooohhhhhhhhh," said Willow, drawing out her understanding that her allies were off somewhere else.

Dru's eyes flashed. She leaned in to Johan and whispered, "St. Louis."

Johan nodded. Jasper was the only idiot who would still be here.

Dru shot her pistol into the bushes. A scream.

Then, all was silent.

**{TORAK WATEVR, DISTRICT TWO} **

When **TORAK **heard Jessamine's scream, he knew he had a decision to make.

On one hand, Jessamine had been loyal so far. She was smart. The Capitol citizens loved her.

On the other hand, Torak didn't want Jessamine forever. He wouldn't even need that plan of his if he let Rush succeed in killing her.

He sighed. He would need Jessamine for a while longer. Her fans and pack of supplies outweighed the easy getting rid of her.

So, with that in mind, he crept towards where she was screaming, relying on his hearing to track her. Then Rush snapped, "Shut up! He's not coming for you, get it in your head!"

Jessamine responded, "Allies come back!"

"Not Torak!" Rush screeched.

The two bickered some more.

**{CALLIOPE GAIL, DISTRICT FOUR} **

**CALLIOPE **was alone, with no supplies or idea where she was going.

Clio was dead.

Oh her goodness, Clio was dead.

She had been right in the center of the explosion. Right where Zaylie's token had landed.

Oh her goodness.

**{ZAYLIE WELLS, DISTRICT NINE} **

As **ZAYLIE **fled through the woods, she was filled with horror.

She had missed.

She had missed and killed Clio instead.

How was she supposed to live with that? She had killed a fourteen-year-old girl who had been entirely innocent.

She was just like the Capitol.

She sat down on a log, feeling stiff. She took her heavy pack off and began to inspect the contents.

Food.

And… water?

The Capitol _never _supplied water. Ever. That had to mean something, that they had given out water this Game.

As she continued, she was striken by how much water there was. She had been carrying almost a gallon. And the food stores were bountiful, too. She was munching on some crackers when she screamed.

A little girl had walked out of the trees. She was younger than her by a year or two. Her dark brown, slightly curly locks hung prettily. Her green eyes flashed, and her face was expressionless.

It was Clio.

A second Clio emerged from the trees, smiling creepily. The first Clio matched her. A third Clio emerged. A fourth. A fifth. More Clios, everywhere, until they surrounded her. They closed in on her without uttering a word. The Clios had razor-sharp fingernails and bared teeth that looked to be as pointy as a butchering knife. And the eyes glittered ferociously.

"You killed me," said the first Clio, in the original's voice. "You killed me." Clio One was still bearing the same grin, growing wider by the second. Her claws were growing longer, too. They were a gray color, metallic. Again, like knives.

The other Clios nodded and echoed, "You killed me." The Clios repeated this, over and over, as their grins grew wider and their nails and teeth grew bigger, longer, sharper.  
>Zaylie could only sit and watch, frozen with terror.<p>

**{PERTHEUS "PERTH" CRESTER, DISTRICT FIVE} **

**PERTH **heard a terrible scream. It was close. It continued, on and on. A laugh joined it. More laughter. More than one person must have been causing the scream. A shiver ran down his spine. He picked up the spear he'd scored at the bloodbath and held it, sharp end towards the direction of the screams and laughter.

He said, "Did you hear that?"

Lenz rolled her eyes. "Of course we did," she responded. "Maybe we should… I don't know, go the _other way_?"

Chrys laughed. "Well, duh."

They made a sharp left, just as the screams and laughter silenced.

**OBITUARIES **

**REMULUS SPLIT, DISTRICT EIGHT: **Poor ol' Remulus. He should have looked ahead. Or just changed direction. Well, you did your best, and I guess that's what's important.

**JASPER ST. LOUIS, DISTRICT ONE: **The Careers _are_ capable of being taken down from the inside, just not by you. Also, it might have worked, if you weren't you and you had been able to sit still.

**CLIO TOFFEY, DISTRICT TEN: **You were sweet, Clio, but not Hunger Games material. I wonder what would have happened if Zaylie had aimed correctly…

**ZAYLIE WELLS, DISTRICT NINE: **Zaylie, that was quite a horrific death. You need to work on your aim. Oh, wait, you're dead…

**Deaths This Chapter: 4 **

**Deaths Total: 13 **

Alive: Jessamine, Sheen, Dru, Rush, Torak, Zach, Lucy, Bailey, Gage, Denatharf, Anak, Corax, Lenz, Johan, Perth, Kinley, Jayde, Willow, Ash, Reyna, Lin, Soup, Lizzie, Thomas, Rose, Nova, Penelope, Gareth, JJ, Maysilee, Hana, Haymitch, and Connor.

Dead: Sammy(Rose's sword), Huan(Sheen's sword), Emma(someone's knife), Haru(Nova's knife), Bryon(Sheen's sword), Rocky(Dru's sword), Ron(Zaylie's bombs), Naten(poisonous berries), Remulus(force field by Careers), Jasper(Dru's pistol), Clio(Zaylie's bombs), and Zaylie(Clio Mutts).

Kills:

Sheen: Huan, Bryon, Remulus

Dru: Rocky, Jasper

Zach: Remulus

Corax: Kevin, Remulus

Zaylie: Ron, Clio

Rose: Sammy

Naten: Himself

Nova: Haru

Unknown: Emma

Mutts: Zaylie

***Next up is Part Three! Then Day One will be over. Part Three will mostly consist of the part where the Careers hunt people down, like they did to Remulus, Jessamine and Torak. We'll find out how everyone's doing, what's in the packs, and how the Rush/Jessamine/Torak thing works out… And we'll see who Lucy ran into. **

**So! How was this chapter? **

**I also updated the website again. Everyone has a picture now, and the death lists/ alliances are updated, along with the quotes section. I'm gonna head over and update the deaths/ alliances now. **

**Gareth and Haymitch were the only alliance that did not make an appearance yet. They will be featured next chapter, along with Lin and JJ. **

**Well, see ya next time!* **

: / /the fiftieth hg. we ebly arena - stats . html

NO SPACES

_Who do you think Lucy encountered earlier? _


	14. 13, Games, Bloodbath Part Three

***And so, we begin with…* **

**{SHEEN BEATH, DISTRICT ONE} -**_Ha! None of you have a chance. _

**SHEEN **sat around the circle with her remaining allies- Dru, Zach, Anak, Corax, Johan, and Willow- bored as they waited for Rush to return.

"Look," said Zach, "we should probably just plan without her. She's gonna draw out their deaths for the Capitol anyway. Some people need to get the ones that we saw leave before they get too far."

Sheen and the others nodded. "Who should stay behind?" asked Dru.

They all looked pointedly at Willow, who smiled and asked, "What?"

"I want to go," said Dru. "I haven't gone out yet." Anak echoed, "I haven't gone out yet."

"Me too," piped up Sheen. "I wanna go."

As the alliance bickered, Johan stood up and waved her hands. "Look. I'm willing to stay behind with Willow. You others can go and get those two older boys, Gareth and Haymitch. They need to be taken care of before they become a problem. Is that good enough for you?"

Sheen regarded Johan curiously. It was a good plan. Plus, Johan could easily defend the Cornucopia- she was a good, strong fighter. The rest of the group murmured agreement.

"All right," said Corax. He seemed to be keeping an eye on Johan, too. "But which way did those two go? I didn't see them during the bloodbath at all."

Everyone else nodded, including Sheen. She had been too busy killing Huan and Bryon to pay attention to the two large, burly boys.

"I didn't see them at all either," said Anak. Sheen snorted. "You were unconscious almost the entire time."

Anak shrugged.

"I saw them." Everyone turned to the direction this new voice was coming from. Surprisingly, it was Willow. "They went that way." She pointed west, evident by the sun beginning to set in the sky.

The group exchanged glances. Even if the two boys hadn't gone that way, someone would have. There were so many tributes, it was bound to have happened.

"Okay," shrugged Corax. "Everyone grab a weapon, and we'll be off."

Sheen was still gripping her bloodstained sword, and Dru still had her pistol, but everyone else grabbed something.

Johan and Willow sat by the edge of the golden horn, and Willow waved as the crew set off into the forest to find their targets.

**{CALLIOPE GAIL, DISTRICT FOUR} -**_It takes twenty times to earn my trust, and once to lose it. _

**CALLIOPE **eyed the mountain in front of her. It was large and purple, which Calliope was pretty sure wasn't natural. She had spotted a fire going by the mountainside, and was headed over there to see who was there, and possibly steal some food from them. Or water. All the walking was drying her mouth up. And she was so used to water surrounding her. It was shocking to see her beautiful district gone.

She crept closer to the smoke, peering through the last leaves in the neon forest to see Nova and Penelope, the girls from District Eleven, roasting meat over a fire.

She decided to wait there, and strike when they were asleep.

**{KINLEY MATHERS, DISTRICT SIX} -**_I thought I was learning how to live, when truthfully, I've been learning how to die. _

**KINLEY **trudged behind her group of allies, bringing up the rear. Jayde was at the front leading the group. They had slowed their pace to a walk now.

Rose asked tiredly, "Can we stop? We're so far, we must be beyond the force field."

Lizzie nodded in agreement. She'd been exhausted ever since the bloodbath.

Jayde looked back at Kinley, signaling with her eyes, _How about you? _Kinley nodded. Fighting Anak with her fingernails had really taken it out of her. It had also torn off said nails, both fake Capitol nails and real.

Jayde shrugged. "I guess this is as good a place as any," she said. She tossed her large pack to the ground, and Kinley did the same, relieved to be rid of the heavy sack. Jayde opened hers and pulled out a gallon jug of water.

"What?" asked Lizzie, stunned. It was rare, if ever, the Gamemakers gave tributes water.

Kinley stared at it, wide-eyed. She opened her pack and found another jug. She pulled it out, staring at the crystal-clear water inside

Rose was the one who voiced their thoughts. "Since when do they give us water?"

"Never." Jayde responded.

"That has to mean something," said Kinley.

"But what?" asked Rose. The group fell into silence, trying to puzzle out the Gamemaker's latest move.

**{LUCY ELEC, DISTRICT THREE} -**_Kindness can kill, did you know that?_

**LUCY **cried out, "Please, just get it over with quickly," looking into the eyes of her soon-to-be killer desperately.

The blonde-haired boy looked just as stunned as she was. "What?"

"Just… don't let it last too long."

"Oh. That."

The boy behind him, a dark-skinned, tall, strong-looking boy had a silent conversation with the blonde boy, who seemed to be a few years younger or so. They turned back to Lucy, both with softened expressions.

"You can come with us instead. Unless, of course, you'd prefer dying," said the blonde.

Lucy started to cry.

"We said we aren't gonna kill you," said the blonde, baffled. The older boy behind him nodded. He seemed to be a guy of few words.

"I know," said Lucy, wiping her dark eyes on her neon sleeve. "Thank you… but why?"

They shrugged in unison. "You remind me of someone," replied the blonde simply. The dark-skinned boy nodded again.

She ran forward and hugged them both. They were stiff and shocked at first, but they softened up for a few seconds before Lucy released them. They had just begun to introduce themselves when the older boy held up a hand. Lucy and the blonde boy silenced immediately.

"Go," said the boy, voice deep and warning. "Someone is coming. Go! Faster!"

She and the boy stared at him, uncomprehending. "I said go!" he said, sounding frantic now. He pushed them to her left, then began pulling them along. She went with him, stumbling over orange tree roots as the group ran for their lives.

**{TORAK WATEVR, DISTRICT TWO} -**_F^{k off. _

**TORAK **sat as still as he could, slowly drawing his sword from its sheath as he listened to Jessamine and Rush bicker.

"Peekaboo!" shouted Rush after a particularly long silence.

Jessamine screamed, the sound echoing in the distance. The lilac leaves of her hiding place rustled and the branches creaked, indicating a movement from one of the two girls. Rush laughed hysterically. Which was odd, as it really hadn't been that funny.

Torak peered up through the leaves of the tree. They were pretty high now. He wasn't sure he'd be able to reach them, or if he'd be able to carry out his plan.

**{BAILEY HUDAK, DISTRICT THREE} -**_I'm gonna try. _

A scream echoed in the distance as **BAILEY **sat down. "Gage, listen to me."

Thomas was a few yards away, pretending he wasn't listening in.

"There's nothing to listen to." He stared at her coldly. She winced.

"But there is." She drew in a deep breath, glare still stinging freshly, along with the dozens of cuts she'd received earlier. "You've changed."

"Bailey-"

"Shush." She held a finger to his lips, forcing him to stop talking. "Unpleasantly. Stop it, Gage."

"There's nothing I can stop," Gage growled. "It's not my fault I watched people die today!" His voice rose in pitch.

"I did too, Gage! The explosion! I saw a little girl blow up!" Bailey yelled. "Point is, you're changing into someone else. Please stop." She stared into her childhood friend's eyes, avoiding hers.

"How?" Gage demanded.

"You're colder. Pushing people away. Speaking rudely to them. Thomas is our ally, and he's protected you today. You almost died. Cut it out. Thomas is on our side, and you need to realize that." She was referring to the point where Thomas had deflected a knife certainly headed for Gage's neck with his weapon. They'd been running from the bloodbath at the time. She'd also seen the District Six girl, the black-haired one, hit with an identical knife. She wondered who the thrower was. She hoped they were dead already.

She glanced over at Thomas, whose gaze had darted to them at the mention of his name. They met eyes.

"Bailey, this is the Hunger Games. Everything changes." He dropped his voice. "And besides, Thomas won't stay with us forever. He has to die for us to get home."

"Us?" Bailey asked.

"I can't go home without you, Bailey," Gage said quietly. "I just can't."

"I can't go home without you, Gage," Bailey repeated. "But one or none of us has to. You said it yourself. These are the Games. People die. Get over it. If you don't..." She stood and walked away in the direction of Thomas, who quickly busied himself with cleaning his weapon.

**{ELENZA "LENZ" CRESTER, DISTRICT FIVE} -**_See, the odds aren't in my favor. I either lose my brother or die. That's death either way. _

**LENZ **pulled Chrys aside, telling Perth it was about "girl things".

"Are you okay?" she asked the younger girl.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Chrys waved her off. Lenz was still pretty sure Chrys was upset, that she just had different ways of expressing it- and her way was pretending everything was the same. After all, she had seen people die just an hour earlier. That changes a person.

"Well, anyway," she said, "let's talk."

"About what?"

"LIfe. Before you came… here." She waved her arms around, gesturing to the neon arena.

"Oh. Um…" she trailed off, deep in thought. "I have a dog."

"You do?" asked Lenz, surprised.

"Yeah. Her name's Scruffy. We found her in an alley one day and I snuck her home and hid her in a closet. I snuck her my table scraps. That arrangement lasted… oh, about four hours. We had to get a new closet door afterwards."

"You _what_?" Lenz was laughing.

Chrys started laughing too. "Hey, she said defensively, "I was six. Give me a break."

"What's all the laughing about?" asked Perth, backtracking a few paces to walk alongside the girls.

So Chrys repeated her story of the time she had hid her dog in a closet, and they were all laughing by the end of it.

**{CORAX DEN, DISTRICT FOUR} -**_Everyone is unique, yet everyone is the same here. They all want to win. _

**CORAX **held up a hand. "Shh!"

The other Careers stopped and cocked their heads, hearing it too. The crackling flames of a fire, echoing close by.

"We should split up," said Dru.

The rest of the group nodded. Dru shrugged and began walking towards the fire. Anak followed, leaving Sheen, Zach and himself alone to chase down the boys.

"Wait," said Corax. He just had a feeling.

"What?" asked Dru, sounding a little annoyed.

"Listen," he told her. "Three… two… one…"  
>Two screams was heard- one of pain, one of terror. "They've already been taken care of. Let's keep going."<p>

Dru shrugged. "But how did you know?"

Corax shrugged. "I had a feeling. Besides… there happen to be some stalkers in these Games, unfortunately.

Anak grinned. "Besides ourselves?"

Sheen gave a low laugh.

They stepped in the direction Willow had pointed. It was a comfortable silence- just the cracking of twigs underfoot, the occasional _thwack! _of a branch being lopped out of their path.

Sheen, in front of him, hunched down,the rest copying her, trusting her judgement. They crawled through the brambles to see two boys and a girl, just disappearing into the trees.

The group stood and began the chase.

**{JOHAN BORDAN, DISTRICT FIVE} -**_If I die, I die. If I win, I win. Whatever happens I'll face it with gusto. _

**JOHAN **was pretending not to watch Willow. The girl had stopped sitting up so straight, hunching over like a regular teenager. Her eyes had lost their glassy look, and she was rubbing her throat as if it was strained.

"I knew it," Johan muttered. Willow looked up at her from where she was doodling in the dirt with a stick. "Knew what?" She dropped her stick and clapped her hands over her mouth. Her voice had been an octave lower than usual. She sighed in defeat.

"You have a brain," Johan said.

"What about it?"

"People who join the Career alliance like us never last long," Johan said. "We're going to need an out sooner or later, and we need to plan it now."

"Middle of the night?" Willow suggested. She sounded relieved Johan wasn't going to kill her at the moment. "We can both be on watch."

Johan nodded, a plan forming in her mind. "But in a few days. Don't let them get suspicious like I did. And being from their districts, they're rather heavy sleepers… we just have to keep and eye on Dru and Corax. They seem like lighter sleepers."

Willow nodded and frowned, puzzling out their escape.

_I like her competent much better, _Johan thought with a grin.

**{JESSAMINE REISS, DISTRICT ONE} -**_Nobody here affects my chances of winning. _

**JESSAMINE **shrieked again as Rush popped her head out from between two branches. She wished Rush would just kill her already; it was becoming more and more obvious Torak had left her, either unknowingly or not. She hoped it was the former. Besides, she hated this game.

Rush cackled again below her, and Jessamine climbed higher. The foliage around her was so thick, she couldn't see the ground below her. It was from all different trees, too; she could tell from the different colored leaves. Wait a minute…

She tugged on one of the branches with different colored leaves, seeing if it would support her weight. It held, and as quietly as she could, she swung from her tree into the other, blue-leaved tree.

"Oof," she muttered as she crashed into the trunk.

"Peeka-" she heard Rush yell gleefully, stopping short. "Where'd you go? GET BACK HERE!"

Frantic, Jessamine swooped into the next tree, crashing full-on into this one. She tried to keep quiet, seeing as Rush hadn't pinpointed her yet, but she couldn't help the low groan that came from her mouth.

She heard a terrific crash in the tree a few yards from hers- Rush was following her. She began to climb down, and midway down, she jumped into the next tree. She continued her way down from there. Finally, she had to stop to take some of the brightly colored splinters from her hand. They matched her outfit, they were so neon.

Rush was yelling in fury, unable to locate her freed captive. Jessamine jumped from the last limb, feeling her ankle roll as it hit the cushy ground. She gave a small shriek from pain, as she realized it wasn't ground she had landed on.

It was Torak.

"Ah!" he yelled. He threw her off, then helped her up. But she could barely stand. "My ankle," she hissed through her teeth. Torak nodded and motioned for her to ride piggy-back.

And so that's how she got away, riding her ally like she was a rodeo clown into the setting sun, pulling more splinters from her hand and wincing.

**{LIN YING, DISTRICT EIGHT} -**_My little brother Chu is all I have left. And I intend to get back to him. _

**LIN **was confused as to why the Games were considered so hard back home. She had a pack, loaded with supplies. She felt the nice sunshine of the red sun on her face. She was strolling merrily along the path etched into the ground.

Although her evening was slightly marred by the screams here and there, she was almost whistling as she strolled along. Of course, Chu was always on her thoughts- how was he doing? Was he okay? Had his temperature gone down yet?

Was he still alive?

**{JJ CZERNKOWSKI, DISTRICT ELEVEN} - **_When you see me, it'll be too late. _

**JJ **wasn't having any troubles. He had a large, oversized pack and nice stealthy weapon that suited his liking. He was simply stalking others.

A rustle and a pair of voices arguing echoed close by. Man, this arena was loud. You could barely make a sound without everyone hearing it. He crept towards the sounds, unsheathing a dagger he had pilfered earlier. The group fell silent in front of him.

Peering through the trees, he threw his dagger.

It hit the boy spot-on.

**{SOUP NAZI, DISTRICT EIGHT} -**_I WILL DESTROY MY COMPETITION WITH SOUP! SOUP IS THE WAY TO DESTROY EVERYTHING! _

**SOUP **cocked his head to the sounds of the cannon. He drew a line in the dirt for every boom.

_One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. _

Fourteen were dead already.

And then a hesitant, _fifteen. _

That was sad.

It meant less people would get to taste some of his marvelous soup.

**{ANAK JAY, DISTRICT FOUR} **

**ANAK **heard someone yell, "Go! Faster!" The voice was deep. Three pairs of footsteps began moving away from them.

So, of course, he gave chase. So did the rest of his allies.

He could just make out a brown patch of skin bobbing through the woods at the end of the group. He took his trident from his belt, preparing to throw.

"Faster!" Sheen snarled. "Faster, we're going to lose them!"

He surged forward ahead of the group and tossed his trident into the patch of vulnerable skin.

It hit, and the body belonging to the patch gave a roar of pain and fell. The other two, not realizing what had happened, continued on without their companion.

Sheen made a move to keep up the chase, but the Careers couldn't keep it up. They slowed, examining the dying face of the boy Anak had taken down.

It was the dark-skinned male from Eleven. He gave them one last glare, and a round of cannons fired.

Anak counted fifteen as he turned his back on the dead boy.

After, of course, retrieving his trident.

**{RUSH EVANS, DISTRICT TWO} **

A fuming **RUSH **wanted to stomp her way back to camp, but she knew better. So instead, she jogged.

She had let them get away.

She swore to herself on that jog that those two would be dead by her hands before this was all over.

**{WILLOW BARK, DISTRICT SEVEN} **

**WILLOW **picked up her act as soon as a platoon of her allies came walking back. Rush was just a few minutes behind. Everyone set to making themselves dinner in the darkening light, starving from their encounters with other tributes.

"So, what happened?" asked Johan as soon as everyone had calmed down and all their bellies were full.

No one looked at Rush. It was her obvious anger that gave her away- Jessamine and Torak had survived.

"We know fifteen people died," said Dru. "The Eleven boy, the big one, is dead."

"That boy from Eight is dead too, the small one," said Zach.

"And all of the ones that were in the bloodbath that were taken away while you all were gone," said Johan. "'Bout eight, nine right there."

"So that leaves about two or three we don't know about," commented Corax. "Any guesses?"

"Jasper," said Anak.

"Oh, RIGHT!" said Willow. "He was snooping!"

"Right," Dru replied. "He was hiding in some bushes, waiting to take us out, so…"

The rest of the group shrugged. "Oh, well," said Sheen, which surprised Willow a little. Evidently, the two had not been close.

"Who do we need to focus on?" asked Anak. "Who should we get next?"

"That boy from Twelve is still out there. Actually, both of them are," said Zach.

Willow gave some exaggerated head nods.

"That psycho from Eight freaks me out," said Sheen.

General agreement.

"The big bad boy from Five!" Willow suggested.

"Perth? My district partner? Oh, yeah, he'll be dangerous- Lenz will be weak, of course, but Perth needs to be taken care of," replied Johan.

"Those girls from Six and Seven should be taken out soon. And their ally from Ten. She's too good with a sword." Corax this time.

"The other one from Eleven," Dru noted. "He was a little creepy. So was the girl from Nine."

The Capitol anthem played right then, cutting Dru off.

**{ROSE GRANGER, DISTRICT TEN} -  
>ROSE <strong>looked up when she heard the music playing. She wanted to see who had died.

Both boys from One. A little surprising, but not very. Especially considering she had killed one of them. That was a terrifying thought. But what had she supposed to have done?

No faces from Two, which wasn't very astonishing.

None from Three, either. Rose had thought the younger cheerful boy and the sweet twelve-year-old would be dead by now, but apparently not. Then again, the boy did have the guy from Seven as an ally.

None from Four, even though she had thought that Calliope might have died.

The black-haired boy from Five. Again, not surprising.

The girl from Six, Emma, her name was. Haru and Bryon popped up too. She glanced over at Kinley. Kinley was the last one in her district still alive. Rose couldn't imagine how that felt. But Kinley's face showed only a steely resolve.

The younger boy from Seven, not the Three-er boy's ally, but the other one. He had been one of her guesses. Jayde shrugged a little, even though she looked a little upset.

The small boy from Eight. Again, a guess. Poor kid.

Zaylie from Nine showed up in the sky. Lizzie made a choking sound as her picture faded. Kevin's face showed up next, which didn't help. Lizzie tried to cry quietly. At least the boy, Thomas, was still alive somewhere. Lizzie wasn't utterly alone.

Clio's face was next. Rose stared, wide-eyed, at her dead district partner. Oh, little Clio… she'd never had a chance. Yet here she was, her young face grinning widely at Rose, sitting on the ground, surrounded by allies. Ron's expressionless face came up, and she forced herself to swallow. He had always been so strong, so aloof, that he had seemed destined to make it far. Then Naten's curls, outlining his face, bobbed in the night sky, paired with his gentle smile. Rose gave a little cry. She, like Kinley, was all alone. No one from home was here in this stupid, neon arena anymore. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to not care.

From Eleven, the dark-skinned boy, Gareth, had his grim face hanging in the air. That one was a relief and a scare at the same time. He would have been a formidable opponent. Now, she had to watch out for his killer.

With that, the Capitol seal outlined the stars, and the night was quiet once again.

Wait. She had counted fourteen faces in the sky. She had counted fifteen cannons.

Either she had miscounted, or she had missed something.

**{OBITUARIES} **

**GARETH HUNSAVEN, DISTRICT ELEVEN- **Ah, Gareth, you were a nice contender. The only way you possibly could have been taken down was just the way you were. Good job protecting Haymitch and Lucy, though. And you placed higher than I originally had you. But you were a huge Career magnet, so you were going down swinging. Condolences to scrawlx1012.

**UNKNOWN- **Hm, who do you think died? Leave a comment with your guess! I don't think anyone guessed Clio last round, but let's see about this time!

**Deaths This Chapter: 2 **

**Deaths Total: 15 **

Alive For Sure: Jessamine, Sheen, Dru, Rush, Zach, Lucy, Bailey, Calliope, Chrys, Lenz, Johan, Kinley, Jayde, Willow, Reyna, Lin, Soup, Rose, Nova, Penelope, JJ, Maysilee, Hana and Haymitch.

Probably Alive: Torak, Gage, Denatharf, Perth, Ash, Thomas, and Connor. Why these? JJ specifically killed a male that was in an alliance, as he was arguing with someone. And the others not on the list were mentioned in Willow's POV or had one themselves, after this death. Pick from this list.

Dead: Sammy(Rose's sword), Huan(Sheen's sword), Emma(someone's knife), Haru(Nova's knife), Bryon(Sheen's sword), Rocky(Dru's sword), Ron(Zaylie's bombs), Kevin(Corax's axe-thing), Naten(poisonous berries), Remulus(force field by Careers), Jasper(Dru's pistol), Clio(Zaylie's bombs), Zaylie(Clio Mutts), Gareth (Anak's trident), and Unknown (JJ's dagger).

Kills:

Sheen: Huan, Bryon, Remulus

Dru: Rocky, Jasper

Zach: Remulus

Anak: Gareth

Corax: Kevin, Remulus

Zaylie: Ron, Clio

Rose: Sammy

Naten: Himself

Nova: Haru

JJ: Unknown To Us But He Knows Perfectly Well So He Should Really Tell Us Even Though He Doesn't Know We Exist That's Too Bad Isn't It

Unknown: Emma

Mutts: Zaylie

***So! Questions, concerns, thoughts? Leave them in your review! **

**WHO DO YOU THINK DIED? Comment that too! Options are listed in the 'Probably Alive' section. **

**Well, that's the end of day one!***


	15. 14, Games, Some Good Soup

***Welcome back, as we continue on to Day Two of the Games! But first, I won't waste any time...* **

**{BAILEY HUDAK, DISTRICT THREE} -**_I'm gonna try. _

"GAGE!" **BAILEY **screamed as her ally's eyes went wide and glassy, he screamed, and he slumped over. She ran to him only to discover a dagger in his back. A round of cannons boomed.

"Gage Gage Gage…" Bailey started to cry over her friend's body. They were terrible, racking sobs. This went on for awhile. Then, the anger started.

She yanked the dagger from his back, gripping so tightly her knuckles were snow-white. "Thomas," she said quietly. Almost calmly. It might have seemed that way, save for the still-drying trails the salty tears had left on her face.

"Yes?" He was wide-eyed and in shock over what had just happened, frozen in place. She buried the knife up to its hilt in the ground.

"Someone killed Gage," she responded simply.

"What about it?"

"That person," she replied, tearing to now-clean dagger from its place, "is already dead."

**{CALLIOPE GAIL, DISTRICT FOUR} -**_It takes twenty times to earn my trust, and once to lose it. _

**CALLIOPE **snuck forward in the dim light, taking caution not to wake Nova, who had finally fallen asleep on her watch.

_How much should I take? _she wondered, her fingers darting over the life-saving items hungrily. She couldn't take a pack; it would be too noticeable. So she rummaged quietly through the closest packs, taking a knife here, a small pack of water there, a few bites of food from each. Then she darted fearfully back into the night, pleased with herself and wondering when she would have to do it again.

**THE NEXT MORNING **

**{DRUSILLA "DRU" PIERCE, DISTRICT TWO} -**_My big brother died in the Games. I'm fighting for him, and what I believe is right. _

**DRU **sat up and stretched, yawning hugely as she began to wake up. She berated herself a little for sleeping so deeply, especially when she saw Anak had fallen asleep on watch.

_He needs to be taught a lesson, _thought Dru. So, with that in mind, she kicked him in the ribs, in the exact same spot Johan had hit him yesterday.

"OWWWW," Anak yelled, waking up the rest of the crew quite effectively.

Johan bolted up, knife in her hand. She waved it around until she regained her senses and saw it was only Anak. Corax did the same, although he came to himself a bit faster. Sheen simply groaned and rolled over, muttering something about "five more minutes, Mom,". Willow sat up and yelled cheerfully, "Good morning, everyone!" Rush was already up and sharpening her sword.

Anak glared at Dru. "What was that for?"  
>"Falling asleep on watch, you idiot," Dru shot back. "We could have all died! If someone had tried to attack us, we'd all be dead by now!"<p>

"You're overreacting," Anak grumbled. "I was only down a few minutes."

"You were asleep a few minutes after you took over for me," Johan piped up.

"I should kill you right now," Dru told him. "I really should. Be thankful I have a soft heart. If it happens again…" She left the end of the sentence unclear for effect.

Anak glared at her and moved to recover his trident. Rush gave Dru a little glare, too, and moved to talk to Anak quietly.

**{REYNA ASCLEPIUS, DISTRICT EIGHT} -**_See, this is a win-win. I either get to see my sister in death, or I win, and, well… I win. _

**REYNA **shook the others awake. "C'mon, it's morning."

The others rubbed their bleary eyes and began getting ready for the day. Reyna felt a little sorry for interrupting their fantasies of everything being allright, but they weren't real. Facing reality was always so hard. Daisy had taught her that…

"So," said Connor, once they were all awake, "what are we going to do today?"

"I think," Hana replied, "we should just stay on the alert and keep away from other people."

"Y'know," Maysilee interrupted, "this arena makes me wonder."

"Wonder what?" Hana asked.

"We have water. We haven't seen any animals. Everything is brightly colored. It's confusing."

"Yeah," Reyna responded as she rebandaged her chin scrape from yesterday, "there must be something up with the water here for them to give us any."

"That makes sense," said Maysilee thoughtfully. "It would be boring if they just let us dehydrate to death or something."

"But what about the mutts?" Connor asked. "Or rather, the absence of them?"

"I don't know about that," Reyna said. "I think we'll see some sooner or later, though."

"Probably," Hana said. She made her way over to the packs and began sorting the items within. Reyna went over to help her.

**{TORAK WATEVR, DISTRICT TWO} - **_F^{k you all. _

**TORAK **was still marveling a little at the fact the two had escaped Rush the next morning. Although Jessamine had a badly sprained ankle, and Torak had a nice bruise on his back, they were alive, which was a miracle in itself. And then there was the fact that they still had a pack of supplies, which Jessamine had been carrying- it was incredible she hadn't lost it.

He watched her sleep peacefully. She seemed calm, peaceful in sleep, a luxury they couldn't afford here.

At least for her, it would all be over soon.

**{HAYMITCH ABERNATHY, DISTRICT TWELVE} -**_I'm gonna kick your sorry asses. _

**HAYMITCH **was berating himself all night. Why hadn't he just killed Lucy right there? Then Gareth might have lived…

Although, Gareth was a scary guy, and at least Haymitch wouldn't have to fight him…

But, Lucy, she would be a huge burden. A twelve-year-old with little to no skills? Ugh. But she was so like Madeline back at home. And how would Mae be able to look at him the same way? No, it had been the right choice. Right?

Lucy stirred and woke. She sat up, eyeing Haymitch warily.

"So, Lucy," he greeted her, not bothering with the ever-annoying "Good morning!"s or "How did you sleep? Did you forget you were in a death match? Good for you!"s.

"Mmm-hmm?"

"Do you have any… skills?"

"Skills? I'm okay at finding plants. I can use darts and a dagger if you have one."

Haymitch breathed a sigh of relief. This girl might actually help him, if only a little. "Let's see here…" He rummaged through the pack he had gotten from the bloodbath- Gareth's pack was long gone. "I have two knives." He handed them to her, making sure she didn't make any sudden moves.

"Thanks." She took them and slipped them inside her bright yellow-and-blue-and-orange belt. "I'm going to see if there's any food out here- that stuff isn't going to last us forever." She gestured towards the pack in Haymitch's hands, and he nodded. It was always a good idea to have some insurance.

She crawled towards some bushes. The leaves were pink; the stems white-light blue. The berries dotting the bush themselves were a glaring red, as if daring you to eat them. "These are bad," she murmured to herself. "Red berries almost always are." She moved to the side, examining yet another. She continued on with this for several moments. Then she made her way back to Haymitch.

"They're all poisonous," she told him.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." She pointed towards the first bush she had examined. "Those red berries are almost certainly poisonous, because reds almost always are, and I'd rather not take my chances. Those blueberries-" she pointed to the next bush over- "have dark red juice, which is also a bad sign. And those pink ones-" she pointed behind them- "again, it goes with red. Besides, I've never seen naturally pink berries."

Haymitch was impressed. "So, every berry here is bad?"

"Yes. And I'm willing to bet that all of the roots aren't lifesavers either. The tree bark is also oozing red sap…" She left the end of her sentence unsaid, but it was obvious; the bark would be of no help to them.

"So every possible food source will kill us," confirmed Haymitch. "And we haven't seen any water."

"Then we have to keep to the pack," Lucy said. "But what happens when the pack runs out?"

**{DENATHARF LIKONLN, DISTRICT THREE} -**_**"**__This camping competition is going to be so fun! We are going to roast marshmallows and eat hot dogs and tell ghost stories and..." _

**DENATHARF **was still lost in dreams as everyone else geared up for the day.

"_Shhh. Don't look, Denatharf. They're just playing. Camping," his mother soothed. She melted into Lucy, giving Haru the goodbye gesture with a sad, reminiscing smile. Her outstretched hand came towards him, clamping itself over his eyes. "Look away, Denatharf." His father's voice. The hands became rougher, calloused. _

_He shoved the hands aside. The face outside them wasn't his mother's or father's or Lucy's anymore- it was the cold boy from Four, who came at him with an axe. Denatharf screamed. Corax dissolved into Anak at the last minute, who dropped to his knees, crying out, "Isla…". He morphed into a young girl, her heart-shaped face framed by loose dark curls her faded ribbon failed to keep out of the way. "Come with me," she whispered, outstretching her small hand, smiling gently. Her sea-blue eyes sparkled like churning waves. _

"_Who are you?" he asked. But she refused to respond. "Come with me," she said, more insistent this time. He took a hesitant step backwards, and her face became wounded. She started to cry. "I thought you were my friend!" He rushed towards her, to comfort her, but she ran from him, tripping and falling when she was ten paces away. As she fell, the surroundings changed to those of the arena. She became taller, her hair lighter and straighter and much, much shorter, until she was the boy from Ten that had fallen from his platform onto the neon grass below. His terrified face went up in flames, and Denatharf screamed again, reaching out to help him. He hoisted the boy from the ground, only to find that he had become Zaylie, the girl who had thrown her necklace. _

"_You're next," she cackled, and tossed Denatharf to the ground below them. He grabbed at air, finding a hand that brought him back up. It wasn't Zaylie's hand any longer; it belonged to Ash now. He sobbed, grateful his friend had come to the rescue, when Rush came from the fires below. Her dark brown hair tied up, she came at him with yet another weapon, and he tried to run. But Ash held him firmly in place; he was trapped. _

"_Let me go!" Denatharf yelled, struggling. Ash cocked his head at him, expressionless. "But you were going to die anyway," Ash said. "Why delay it any longer?" And with that, Rush threw her axe back, laughing, to bring it down on Denatharf's temple. _

**{KINLEY MATHERS, DISTRICT SIX} -**_I thought I've been learning how to live, when truthfully, I've been learning how to die. _

**KINLEY **woke to someone shaking her shoulder. "Kinley! Wake up!"

She was awake immediately. "What is it?" she asked, drawing her throwing knives.

Lizzie, who had been shaking her shoulder, said, "Rose is gone!"

"What?" Kinley looked frantically around the camp to see that Lizzie was telling the truth; their ally was gone. No traces of her remained.

"She took some stuff with her, too." Jayde said, a few paces away. "A jug of water, her sword, half our food and our extra pair of socks. An entire pack."

Kinley cursed a little under her breath. "Dang it, Rose!" The traitor was still alive and had taken over half their things. She knew their advantages and weaknesses- if she tried to attack them later, they would find it to be a tough battle, even though she would be outnumbered. Still, she supposed, it could be worse. She hadn't taken everything. She had some decency, although not a whole lot.

Dang it, Rose.

**{ROSE GRANGER, DISTRICT TEN} -**_My friends at home like to call me Feistypants. Maybe soon, you'll see why. _

**ROSE **was hiking along, pack on her back, sword in her hand, sun signaling that it was about noon. She set her pack and weapon down by a boiling lake, sitting down on a large rock to relieve her legs of the strain. She had walked almost across the entire arena as fast as she could, doing her best to get away from Kinley, Jayde and Lizzie. She didn't feel too bad about leaving them so soon. Best to take as much as she could as soon as possible. She would live longer this way. Everyone would.

She was just starting to relax when a head popped out of the bushes. Blonde hair in an odd fashion- was that a bowl cut?-, lumpy body, handlebar mustache- it was the crazy boy from Eight, Soup Nazi.

She jumped. Soup only cocked his head. Then, he asked, "Would you like some soup?"

"No, thank you, I'll just be on my way-" She moved to leave, but Soup stopped her.

"Is there something wrong with my soup?" he asked threateningly. She swallowed hard. "N-n-o, sir."

"Then try it."

"Yessir."

His expression brightened at that. "Good! It's over there." He pointed to the boiling lake. She felt a little queasy. He had turned an entire lake into soup? She scrambled over to it under Soup's watchful gaze and dipped her hands in, bringing it to her face and pretending to lap it up. "Mmmm. This is rather good. Now, if you'll excuse me-"

"You didn't eat it," Soup said accusingly. His sunken eyes bored into hers.

"What? Yes, I did," she defended. She did her best not to waver under the stern gaze of the crazy soup boy.

"Then have some more," he demanded.

She shrugged, pretending to not care. Her heart hammered against her ribs. She dipped her hands in the lake again and drank this time.

It was very hot, so hot it scalded her tongue. She started to choke almost immediately as the soup made it way to her stomach. It was just so _hot… _

**{SOUP NAZI, DISTRICT EIGHT} - **_I WILL DESTROY MY COMPETITION WITH SOUP! SOUP IS THE WAY TO DESTROY EVERYTHING!_

**SOUP **gazed at the girl in wonder. Did she not like his soup? Why had a cannon fire gone off again? But whatever had happened, she wasn't breathing or even twitching just a tiny bit anymore, like she had earlier, when the water was coming from her eyes and was making whimpering noises. It had reminded him of the time he had put something called "cyanide" in his soup. The man who had eaten it had started throwing up everywhere, so Soup had kicked him out. Good riddance, he said! Who wanted a barfing customer? He prodded the girl with his foot. She remained there, eyes wide and glassy. Oh, well. If she hadn't enjoyed his soup, it was her loss, not his.

He ambled over to the girl's pack, examining the contents. Good! Food and water! Soup hadn't eaten anything since before this forest. It was his personal rule to never try the customer's food. So he restrained from having any of his good-smelling soup lake. He popped a few slices of dried fruit into his mouth.

_Mmmm. _

**{RUSH EVANS, DISTRICT TWO} -**_My only regret is that I have but one life to give for my district, and my country. _

**RUSH **cocked her head to the sound of cannon fire. It hadn't taken long for the nature of the arena to continue with the kills. Another dead, one step closer. Too bad she hadn't been the one to kill them.

She scooted closer to Anak. "Anak," she said, "how are you?"  
>"Fine," he responded, avoiding her gaze.<p>

"Anak, are you sure? You were all… mopey a few days ago and now you're as you were when I met you."

"I don't remember being mopey," Anak said uneasily. She searched his expression and found him to be telling the truth. He actually didn't remember any moping. Which was odd, as she could clearly envision Anak's ragged features that last day in the Training Center. "But we're together, and that's all that's important."

Rush couldn't help but grin at Anak's forwardness. He leaned in, and she met him in the middle.

**{CORAX DEN, DISTRICT FOUR} -**_Everyone is unique, yet everyone is the same here. They all want to win. _

**CORAX **turned away from the entangled figures a few meters away. Dru had been right, all that time ago. Anak was "playing her like a deck of cards". Even if it had only been a few days.

Gosh, time went by fast.

He began mapping out a plan with Sheen on how to best track down their enemies.

"See," she was saying, "I think we need to use the same tactic as Jessamine."

"Which is?" Dru had walked over, and was now raising an eyebrow.

"We travel through the trees." Sheen drew a few lines in the dirt with a green stick. "We can ambush people in the nighttime like stalkers!" In Corax's opinion, Sheen was just a _little _too excited about this idea.

"Question is," said Dru, crouching down next to them, "can you climb trees?"

Sheen bristled a little at that. "Of course I can."

And that was how the mighty, undefeatable, ruthless Careers spent the rest of the day climbing rainbow trees.

**Rather uneventful chapter. But here we are. **

**OBITUARIES  
><strong>

**GAGE PILLER, DISTRICT THREE- **We never really dove into you too much, Gage, but that's because your form had about fifteen words total. It didn't even include what gender you were, so I had to guess. But on the surface, you seemed to be going a little crazy before your death. But your partner Baily is acting upon this event… hm, we shall see how that ends…

**ROSE GRANGER, DISTRICT TEN- **A little of a Mary-Sue here. So I had this brilliant idea for your death. You go, Soup. EVERYTHING in that lake was poisonous. Mushrooms(especially them), the boiling water, the 'herbs', everything. We won't miss you too terribly, girlie, as you died a traitor.

**DISTRICT TEN IS OUT **

Alive: Jessamine, Sheen, Dru, Rush, Torak, Zach, Lucy, Bailey, Denatharf, Calliope, Chrys, Anak, Corax, Lenz, Johan, Perth, Kinley, Jayde, Willow, Ash, Reyna, Lin, Soup, Lizzie, Thomas, Nova, Penelope, Gareth, JJ, Maysilee, Hana, Haymitch, and Connor.

Dead: Sammy(Rose's sword), Huan(Sheen's sword), Emma(someone's knife), Haru(Nova's knife), Bryon(Sheen's sword), Rocky(Dru's sword), Ron(Zaylie's bombs), Kevin(Corax's axe-thing), Naten(poisonous berries), Remulus(force field by Careers), Jasper(Dru's pistol), Clio(Zaylie's bombs), Zaylie(Clio Mutts), Gareth (Anak's trident), Gage (JJ's dagger), and Rose(Soup's soup lake).

Kills:

Sheen: Huan, Bryon, Remulus

Dru: Rocky, Jasper

Zach: Remulus

Anak: Gareth

Corax: Kevin, Remulus

Soup: Rose

Zaylie: Ron, Clio

Rose: Sammy

Naten: Himself

Nova: Haru

JJ: Gage

Unknown: Emma

Mutts: Zaylie

***So… that might be the end of this day, but probably not. Questions, comments, concerns, leave them in reviews! **

**Also for reviews: **

**I have to give a bunch of people points for guessing Gage. Whoop-de-doo-dah. **

**What did you guys think of Rose, Gareth, and Gage's deaths? The new Haymitch/Lucy alliance? The Career's new strategy? Runak, Ranak, Ansh, or Anush for Rush/Anak? Bailey's craving for vengeance? The poisonous rainbow arena? Denatharf's weird little dream- like who was the random girl, for instance? Did anyone notice a certain reappearing berry during Lucy's investigation?**

**Don't feel obligated to answer that mess of questions. But maybe a few…? **

**Well, see you next chapter!***


	16. 15, Games, Why Is the Earth Crying?

***Welcome back! Let us have an update: **

**Sixteen tributes are dead. Thirty-two are alive. **

**And so now, we have someone who is still alive…* **

**15, Games, Bleeding Irises and Twenty Questions**

**{ASH TAYLOR, DISTRICT SEVEN} -**_Where there's trees and nature my spirit will never die. If there are trees in the arena, I won't die. _

**ASH **was unsure of what to do. Denatharf was throwing himself about in a night terror, screaming names and words he couldn't understand. But sleep might be better for him than the arena… No, it couldn't. If this went on, Denatharf could hurt himself.

He shook his ally awake. "Denatharf. Wake up."

He stirred and opened his eyes, laying in the same position and staring straight ahead. "Ash," he whispered. "Please…"

"You'll be okay," he reassured. Denatharf was trembling a little. "Are you going to kill me now?"

"What? NO," Ash said. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you already did in my dream…Ash, why am I alive right now?"

Ash felt a shiver run up his back. "Because I want you to be alive right now."

"Do you really?"

"Stop," Ash commanded.

"Stop what?"

"Being… this," he said. "I miss the boy who would whistle as he ran around with a teapot on his head."

"But what if I can't find him?" Denatharf asked in a small voice.

Ash hugged the shaking boy. It was an odd gesture for him, but right now it just felt… right. "He's always with you. You just have to dig deep down and find him," Ash told Denatharf, feeling a little ridiculous. "You have to find a way to be happy again."

"I'll try."

**{PERTHEUS "PERTH" CRESTER, DISTRICT FIVE} -**_I'm only going to feel like a winner if Lenz makes it out. If I live and she dies, I don't think I'd be able to live with that. _

**PERTH **gazed at his sister, who was pretending like she didn't know how to use a weapon. She must look rather clumsy. Not to him, though. She just looked like an actor in the wrong costume. Chrys was contemplating his sibling with a knowing little grin, and in that grin Perth had a feeling that Chrys knew things he wasn't supposed to know she knew. When had she found out?

He returned to his previous thoughts. He was thinking about Isabelle Montoya, Lenz's Mentor. Specifically to the paper, the letter he had given her. He hoped she would know when the time would be right.

**{ELIZABETH "LIZZIE" GROWERS, DISTRICT NINE} -**_Sorry, President Snow, but I really don't want to kill anyone. _

**LIZZIE **was surprised. Rose had been playing them all along? But she had been so _nice… _

These Games had pried her eyes open. People cheat and steal and lie and betray just to save their own skins. But _why _would people force them into those kinds of situations? It had done some good only to rip it to pieces. Look at Jayde and Kinley's friendship. Just a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. Same with the two Eleven girl's friendship.

Poor Lucy from Three's reluctant partnership had turned into a loving, squabbling group and been torn apart just yesterday.

The kind girl from Twelve, the cheerful boy from Three, the desperate from Eight, the siblings from Five. All about to die. Even herself- Lizzie knew she was very unlikely to survive this. She was surprised she had gotten this far, actually.

A bloodcurdling scream howled in the distance as she contemplated these thoughts.

**{TORAK WATEVR, DISTRICT TWO} -**_F{ck off. _

**TORAK **winced at the capacity of Jesamine's lungs. He had warned her this was going to hurt, but really…

Jessamine sat, panting, across from him, her foot pointing the right direction. He had put it in a splint just seconds ago, and Jessamine had been louder than an avalanche.

He hoped to death that no one was nearby. Or that they thought Jessamine had died.

Jessamine glared at him. "OW," she uttered, rubbing her foot.  
>"I warned you," Torak replied. Jessamine scowled and fell silent, obviously reaching the same thoughts Torak had seconds ago. She picked up a knife lying innocently nearby and tossed it into the yellow trunk of a tree, hitting it with dead-on accuracy. Or, well, it would have, if she hadn't stopped mid-follow through.<p>

"Do you feel that?" Jessamine asked him. He started to shake his head but stopped when he felt the tremor in the ground. It slowly grew louder, more pulsating. Torak leapt to his feet and helped Jessamine up. They nearly fell again, when the ground shook even harder.

"Earthquake," Torak muttered. "And dang, we're in a forest… keep moving, Jessamine. We have to get out of here."

**{JAYDANIA "JAYDE" MAREE ABBADON, DISTRICT SEVEN} -**_I will never give in. _

**JAYDE **was the first to feel the rumbles. "Kinley, Lizzie," she said in a low voice. The other two immediately stopped what they were doing and listened to her words. Not that either were doing much- Lizzie had been daydreaming and Kinley had been sharpening knives.

She wasn't sure if she had actually felt something, so she pressed herself into the earth. Yes. It had definitely shaken this time.

"_Daddy, what was that?" a young Jayde asked her father. _

"_The earth is crying, Jayddie," he had replied, hugging her tightly. _

"_Why is it crying?" _

"_Because the earth is sad." _

"_Why is the earth sad?" _

"_I don't know, sweetie," he said, shrugging. "We just have to wait until the earth is done crying, and then we will all be happy again." _

Her eyes flew open. Yes, this was definitely the same thing- it was like her father had said, the earth was crying. Later, in her school years, she had learned that when the earth was crying, it was called an _earthquake. _

It had not been very strong, back in the time Jayde had experienced it. But if she knew the Gamemakers, this one would be a force to be reckoned with- a full on earthly sob-session.

Something else she had learned during school came back to her. _The best place to be is in an open area with nothing to fall on you. For example, our forests- that would be a terrible place to take refuge. _

Wait a minute… they were in a forest. Not exactly like the ones at home, but these were the Games she was talking about.

They had to get out of there.

"Get up," she yelled at her allies, as the tremors increased in volume. "We need to leave here. Now!"

Kinley had a questioning glance in her eyes- maybe she didn't know what an earthquake was? Lizzie, however, seemed to know exactly what was going on, eyes going wide with fear. Jayde leapt up and began throwing their packs back together, pulling Kinley and Lizzie from their seats, and dragging them from the way they came, back towards the mountain leering in the distance. They had to get out of the forest, because Jayde knew- trees were heavy, especially when they were falling on you. She'd seen one too many men crushed by the falling terrors.

Soon enough, Lizzie and Kinley seemed to realize what was going on. They stopped being dragged and began running by themselves, Kinley almost pulling ahead of Jayde. The group sprinted towards the lilac mountain as though their lives depended on it.

And, according to Jayde, they did.

**{NOVA BANDOX, DISTRICT ELEVEN} -**_Believe me, I'm not a little girl. I'm in the Hunger Games. There's no room to be a little girl here. _

**NOVA **felt the ground shake beneath her feet. Her mounting alarm was further heightened by the sight of a turquoise tree falling to the forest floor in the distance. Then, she relaxed, remembering that they weren't near any trees. They were already safe on the mountain.

But there had to be other tributes in the forest. There were so many of them. The forest was also too large for anyone to not decide to hide in there. And if trees were toppling in there, the tributes would all head to the only safe place, which would be open. And the only open place in the arena was the mountain.

The earthquake would throw the enemy right at them.

Nova met Penelope's eyes, and she seemed to have reached the same conclusion. Penelope pointed out a cave nearby, about a quarter mile away. Nova was already packing up and arming herself. She tossed Penelope her bow, hoisted on three large backpacks, and the duo began to hike up the mountain.

The closer to the mountain they got, the more on edge they became.

**{CONNOR PIKAXE, DISTRICT TWELVE} -**_Fingers crossed… _

**CONNOR **heard Hana shriek in terror about twenty feet away as a tree came crashing down again. The beautiful trees had become menacing as they fell around them, the ground roaring at them as they ran, throwing their arms in front of their heads as a meager protection.

Connor looked up, making sure a tree wasn't coming down on him again. He heard a scream behind him, and snapped his head around as he turned to run in his allie's direction. The one screaming was Reyna, yelling, "MOVE!"

What?

That was the only thought he had time for. Reyna body-slammed him, surprisingly strong for her skinny frame. Connor _oomphed _his way to the right, falling to the ground. He hit his forehead on a green rock, turning it a vicious red. He stumbled upward, holding a hand to his head to staunch the bleeding, when he saw that Reyna had disappeared. Again, he whipped his head around, spraying blood everywhere, trying to find one of his allies. "Hello?!" he screamed. "Reyna, Hana, Maysilee!"

"Connor!" a voice shouted back. It was young, small, afraid. "I'm here!" It was Hana.

"Hana!" he screamed, running in the direction of the girl's voice. But he stopped in his tracks when, behind him, he heard, "Connor? Connor!"

It was Maysilee. Oh, no, now he would have to _choose_ who to go to. He contemplated frantically. Maysilee had a pack with her, as did he. Hana was closer. Maysilee would need less protection, Hana more.

He sprinted in Hana's direction as he heard a third call. But this time, it wasn't his name. "Viola!" a voice called, weak and small. "Viola…"

"Hana!" Connor shouted again, veering off in the direction the third voice had come from. "Come over here! I'm here!"

After just a few seconds, he found the source of the third voice. A girl, with red hair, bright blue eyes turned dull and black as the irises bled, a thin figure, and a severely dented-in head.

It was Reyna.

"Reyna!" he choked out. She was a goner for sure, with her head bending inwards at that angle. The tree must have done it… the one Reyna had pushed him out of the way of… oh, no…

But the mortally injured girl didn't seem to hear. She staggered away from him, something slimy and gray that looked suspiciously like brains running down her cheek. "Viola…" she called, reaching a hand out. "I love you…"

Connor felt a tear, hot and thick, drop from his eye. Reyna cocked her head upward, eyes unfocused, muttering, "I missed you, Viola…" before she toppled to the ground in front of him, a cannon clearly going off in the distance. Her eyes stared up at him, black and shiny, haunting, dead to the world. The image of his dead friend burned itself into his eyelids, flashing before him as he blinked.  
>All Connor could do was turn around and sprint in the direction of Hana's voice once again, doing his best to focus on the living instead of the dead.<p>

**{JESSAMINE REISS, DISTRICT ONE} -**_No one here will affect my chances of winning. _

**JESSAMINE **heard screams of "Hana!" "Maysilee!" "Connor!" and "Reyna!" all in a row, all by different voices. Ah, it must have been that large alliance, with the three from Twelve and the one from Eight. A _boom _went off, and Jessamine had a good feeling it was one of them.

But now was not the time for that. Trees all around her were collapsing, and she had lost sight of Torak. She yelled his name. "Torak!" she screeched. "Help! I'm stuck!"

And indeed, it was true. The logs around her, all shades of the rainbow and then some, had formed a splintery cage that she could not make her way out of, her injured ankle not helping things. She attempted to use some knives to carve footholes, but the trees were sound. The knives themselves kept falling out of the trees. So she was a sitting duck, waiting for her rescuer.

"Jessamine?" Torak asked. She could tell he was just over the wall. It was a relief to hear his voice; it was starting to get a little claustrophobic in there. She was crammed in there tightly, without enough space to extend her arms all the way.

"Torak! I'm in here!" she shouted over the falling trees.

"Here, throw over your pack!" Torak called.

"Okay!" Jessamine hollered, and she heaved it upward. An audible _oomph _was heard from Torak, and she couldn't help but grin. It must have landed on him.

"Now get me out!" she yelled. "Or are you just going to let me rot in here?"

"Should I?" Torak called back. She would have smiled, except he sounded so serious.

"No, silly, help me out!"

But Torak didn't seem to hear. In fact, he seemed to be… laughing?

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to let you rot in there," he shouted back.

A small wave of relief washed over her. "Good! Now, I think we have some rope…" She looked skyward, calculating in her head. Now, Jessamine understood why Torak had been laughing.

"YOU -ING LITTLE-" Jessamine screamed, before the knife hanging overhead dropped down, lodging itself in her forehead. And due to her small, confined cage, she couldn't move out of the way.

The last sensations she had were the sounds of laughter and a cannon ringing in her ears.

**{LIN YING, DISTRICT EIGHT} -**_My little brother Chu is all I have left. And I intend to get back to him. _

**LIN **heard two cannons go off in the distance. She was relieved at the thought of two less kills to make, but a little frightened at the thought of killing whoever has killed them. She hoped it was the trees that had done it.

As for the trees falling everywhere, she wasn't very worried. Turns out there was more to the arena than the Cornucopia, the forest, and the purple mountain. No, there was also a large series of cave dwellings about, oh, three miles from the Cornucopia. A spring was in one of the caves, and the water was fresh and clean. She was thinking of just hiding out there, killing anyone who came too close. And if anyone did come too close, and they were too strong to kill, Lin could just switch caves. She had explored countless other caves as well, and seen one other with another, smaller spring.

For the meantime, Lin Ying was not dying.

Chu, however…

**{CALLIOPE GAIL, DISTRICT FOUR} -**_It takes twenty times to earn my trust. But it takes once to lose it. _

**CALLIOPE **darted as silently as possible into the empty cave before her. She gripped a knife in front of her, checking for enemies. She didn't see any, so she relaxed and settled down to guard the mouth of the cave.

It was the only place that seemed safe other than the purple mountain. She had skirted from the edges of the forests out into the open, not willing to risk a tree falling on her. And then, by some great luck, she had found an empty cave to rest in.

A shiver ran up Calliope's back. There was no luck in the Games. Something was destined to go wrong. And it wasn't just Calliope; it seemed there was a small wind blowing on her neck, almost warm.

Calliope spun around. A pair of bright brown eyes glinted back at her.

_Boom. _

**{TORAK WATEVR, DISTRICT TWO} -**_F{ck off. _

**TORAK **couldn't believe Jessamine would just toss her pack over like that. Did she have no suspicion whatsoever? But that had worked beautifully, and he was lighter the person and heavier the pack for it.

And that's why he almost seemed to be skipping as he jaunted towards the mountain, trying to get away from the dodgeball game the falling trees were challenging everyone to.

**{NOVA BANDOX, DISTRICT ELEVEN} -**_Believe me, I'm not a little girl. I'm in the Hunger Games. There's no room to be a little girl here. _

**NOVA **watched as Penelope drew the blade from the girl's forehead. Her body slumped to the ground. Nova immediately took the pack, and Penelope kicked the corpse out of the cave and down the mountain. Nova turned away from the sight of the human boulder.

Nova started to root through the pack. It was small and light. It had a few knives, some cheese, two apples, a loaf of bread…

_Wait a minute. _She started to check the other bags that she and Penelope already owned. Yes, an apple was missing from that bag. Some cheese from that one. A loaf of bread from a third, another apple from a fourth, a knife from their fifth and sixth bags.

This girl had been stealing from them.

She quickly relayed the news to Penelope.

Penelope's response was, "Well, at least she's dead now."

Nova shrugged.

**{PERTHEUS "PERTH" CRESTER, DISTRICT FIVE} -**_I'm only going to feel like a winner if Lenz makes it out. If I live and she dies, I don't think I'd be able to live with that. _

**PERTH **was thanking the Gamemakers right about then. An array of logs had fallen over their heads, sticking in the trees nearby, making a kind of shelter for them. So they simply decided to stay under it and wait for the earthquake to pass.

Which was quite boring, really.

"Let's play Twenty Questions!" Lenz suggested. Perth groaned and put his head in his hands. Lenz _loved _that game. They had played it so much, Mrs. Crester had almost put a ban on it.

"Um, okay," replied Chrys. "You go first."

Apparently, the districts played a lot of the same games.

"I'm thinking of a… tribute," Lenz said.

"He or she?" Chrys asked.

"No, that's not a yes or no question," Lenz singsang, enjoying herself immensely.

"Are they a guy?"

"Yes," Lenz responded. Well, that only narrowed it down to twenty-four instead of forty-eight.

"Are they dead?" Perth couldn't help but ask.

"No," Lenz said.

That left about eighteen questions, and twelve people. They had already won.

"Are they a Career?" Chrys asked.

"Yes," Lenz replied. They were down to about three now.

"Is he from Four?" Perth asked. Sixteen questions left.

"No," Lenz sighed. She knew it too; she'd already lost.

**{ZACH CHAFEE, DISTRICT TWO} -**_Everyone better watch, I'll be coming. _

**ZACH **didn't think much of the tremors. He had no idea why everyone was panicking.

So instead, he took a nap.

**{JJ CZERNKOWSKI, DISTRICT ELEVEN} -  
>JJ <strong>sighed. The earthquake was finally over. How long had it lasted, one, two hours? He had no idea. But he was unharmed, the most important matter currently at hand.

Dusk had arrived soon after the quake, followed by the death count.

The first face in the sky was the blonde from One. Not the blue-eyed one, the green-eyed one. Oh, right, she was the one that had split from the alliance. Good thing she was dead now, because she had been half-capable. That left only one girl left to fight for One.

No faces from Two- which JJ found a little chilling. How was it that they had managed to have no deaths so far? Even with them being themselves, it had to be some kind of record- nineteen cannons, and none from that District. Almost everyone else had someone dead by now.

Next was a boy from Three- not the little one with the purple teapot, but the tall blonde dude. Again, he was half-capable. But JJ had known he was dead, anyway. No surprises there. He was the only one gone from there, which surprised him again, because the teapot boy wasn't exactly a Career, if you knew what he was saying. Neither was the sweet-faced brunette.

A thirteen-year-old from Four was next. The quieter one that had allied with the mine victim from Ten. That pleased him, because she was too much like his female District partners- sneaky, suspicious, smart, and agile. She probably had some strength too. She was the only one from Four that night. Too bad. He wanted the creepy smiling guy from there out of the way soon.

None from Five, Six, or Seven. Seven was no surprise, and same with Six- the one girl they had left was a real contender. Five, well, he wasn't shocked there either. The siblings would protect each other, and the other girl had joined the Careers and was already shady.

The redhead from Eight. Not a real shocker. But he had hoped the crazy boy would be dead by now…

No one from Nine. Although, he expected that Lizzie girl to be dead soon.

The last tribute from Ten, the brunette fifteen-year-old's face, flashed in the sky. Ten was out already.

No one else appeared in the night. Twelve still had everyone, too? That _had _to be a record.

With that, the Capitol seal blazed, the anthem playing brazenly, and then the night sky went dark and all was silent.

**OBITUARIES **

**REYNA ASCLEPIUS, DISTRICT EIGHT- **Reyna, you were a nice girl. Sadly, you were a little too nice in the end there, pushing Connor out of the way and everything. But like you said earlier, you've already won, so good for you.

**JESSAMINE REISS, DISTRICT ONE- **If only, Jessamine, if only. Again, too trusting in Torak led to your demise, but at least he ended it quick for you.

**CALLIOPE GAIL, DISTRICT FOUR- **Calliope, I personally loved you, but you were beginning to turn into Foxface, so I had to do away with you. You ranked higher than the Capitol expected, for which I applaud you.

My condolences to milkshakesw, HestiaAbnegation11, and Pearlness4700.

Kills This Chapter: Three

Kills Total: Nineteen

Alive: Sheen, Dru, Rush, Torak, Zach, Lucy, Bailey, Denatharf, Chrys, Anak, Corax, Lenz, Johan, Perth, Kinley, Jayde, Willow, Ash, Lin, Soup, Lizzie, Thomas, Nova, Penelope, Gareth, JJ, Maysilee, Hana, Haymitch, and Connor.

Dead: Sammy(Rose's sword), Huan(Sheen's sword), Emma(someone's knife), Haru(Nova's knife), Bryon(Sheen's sword), Rocky(Dru's sword), Ron(Zaylie's bombs), Kevin(Corax's axe-thing), Naten(poisonous berries), Remulus(force field by Careers), Jasper(Dru's pistol), Clio(Zaylie's bombs), Zaylie(Clio Mutts), Gareth (Anak's trident), Gage (JJ's dagger), Rose(Soup's soup lake), Reyna(big tree), Jessamine(Torak's knife), and Calliope(Penelope's knife).

Kills:

Sheen: Huan, Bryon, Remulus

Dru: Rocky, Jasper

Torak: Jessamine

Zach: Remulus

Anak: Gareth

Corax: Kevin, Remulus

Soup: Rose

Zaylie: Ron, Clio

Rose: Sammy

Naten: Himself

Nova: Haru

Penelope: Calliope

JJ: Gage

Unknown: Emma

Gamemaker Elements: Zaylie, Reyna

***So! How was this chapter? Sorry, there were a lot of repeat POVs. Questions, comments, concerns, leave them in the reviews! **

**Wow. A lot of split alliances. What, two, just this chapter? And why do the Wrist Slappers keep having so much fun? People, these are the Games! YOUR DISTRICT PARTNERS ARE DYING, AND YOU'RE PLAYING 20 QUESTIONS!**

**Questions {with points!} for all of you: **

**Who was the guy from Twenty Questions? **

**Who do you think will be the next death? JJ was very analytical here, so that might help you guys a little. **

**What do you think about Lin escaping from the rest of the tributes? **

**What did you think of Reyna, Jessamine, Calliope's deaths? The earthquake? **

**That's the end of Day Two! Have a nice day!***


End file.
